BET Award for Sportsman of the Year explained

BET Awards for Sportsman of the Year
Presenter:	BET Awards
Year:	2001
Holder:	Jalen Brunson (2024)
Most Wins:	LeBron James (9)
Most Nominations:	LeBron James (21)
Country:	United States
Website:	https://web.archive.org/web/20130307093921/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards.html

The BET Award for Sportsman of the Year is given to the best and most successful male athlete of the previous year. The award was originally titled Best Male Athlete, but was later changed to its current title in 2010. LeBron James holds the record for most wins in this category with nine.

Winners and nominees

Winners are listed first and highlighted in bold.

2000s

Year	Sportsman	Ref
2001
	Allen Iverson	^[1]
	Kobe Bryant
	Shaquille O'Neal
	Tiger Woods
2002
	Kobe Bryant	^[2]
	Allen Iverson
	Derek Jeter
	Michael Jordan
	Tiger Woods
2003
	Kobe Bryant	^[3]
	Barry Bonds
	Allen Iverson
	Tracy McGrady
	Tiger Woods
2004
	LeBron James	^[4]
	Carmelo Anthony
	Barry Bonds
	Shaquille O'Neal
	Tiger Woods
2005
	Shaquille O'Neal	^[5]
	Allen Iverson
	LeBron James
	Donovan McNabb
	Tiger Woods
2006
	LeBron James	^[6]
	Kobe Bryant
	Shaquille O'Neal
	Tiger Woods
	Vince Young
2007
	LeBron James	^[7]
	Reggie Bush
	Floyd Mayweather Jr.
	Dwyane Wade
	Tiger Woods
2008
	Kobe Bryant	^[8]
	LeBron James
	Floyd Mayweather Jr.
	Chris Paul
	Tiger Woods
2009
	LeBron James	^[9]
	Kobe Bryant
	Reggie Bush
	Dwyane Wade
	Tiger Woods

2010s

Year	Sportsman	Ref
2010
	LeBron James	^[10]
	Carmelo Anthony
	Usain Bolt
	Kobe Bryant
	Tiger Woods
2011
	Michael Vick	^[11]
	Carmelo Anthony
	Kobe Bryant
	LeBron James
	Derrick Rose
2012
	Kevin Durant	^[12]
	Carmelo Anthony
	Kobe Bryant
	Victor Cruz
	LeBron James
2013
	LeBron James	^[13]
	Victor Cruz
	Kevin Durant
	Robert Griffin III
	Ray Lewis
2014
	Kevin Durant	^[14]
	Carmelo Anthony
	Blake Griffin
	LeBron James
	Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2015
	Stephen Curry	^[15]
	LeBron James
	Marshawn Lynch
	Floyd Mayweather Jr.
	Chris Paul
2016
	Stephen Curry	^[16]
	Odell Beckham Jr.
	Kobe Bryant
	LeBron James
	Cam Newton
2017
	Stephen Curry	^[17]
	Odell Beckham Jr.
	LeBron James
	Cam Newton
	Russell Westbrook
2018
	LeBron James	^[18]
	Dwyane Wade
	Odell Beckham Jr.
	Stephen Curry
	Kevin Durant
2019
	Stephen Curry	^[19]
	Kevin Durant
	LeBron James
	Odell Beckham Jr.
	Tiger Woods

2020s

Year	Sportsman	Ref
2020
	LeBron James	^[20]
	Giannis Antetokounmpo
	Kawhi Leonard
	Odell Beckham Jr.
	Patrick Mahomes II
	Stephen Curry
2021
	LeBron James	^[21]
	Kyrie Irving
	Patrick Mahomes II
	Russell Westbrook
	Russell Wilson
	Stephen Curry
2022
	Stephen Curry	^[22]
	Aaron Donald
	Bubba Wallace
	Giannis Antetokounmpo
	Ja Morant
	LeBron James
2023
	Jalen Hurts
	Aaron Judge
	Bubba Wallace
	Gervonta Davis
	LeBron James
	Patrick Mahomes II
	Stephen Curry
2024
	Jalen Brunson
	Anthony Edwards
	Gervonta Davis
	Jalen Hurts
	Kyrie Irving
	LeBron James
	Patrick Mahomes II
	Stephen Curry

Controversy

Some of the nominations have brought up some controversy. Reggie Bush was nominated for the award twice, in 2007 and 2009, despite putting up average numbers for a player at his position in both those seasons. In both years, he was nominated among athletes who were considered the best of the best in their sports, which upset some sports fans, as Bush has not accomplished enough to be in the same list as them.

Multiple wins and nominations

Wins

9 wins

• LeBron James

5 wins

• Stephen Curry

3 wins

• Kobe Bryant

2 wins

• Kevin Durant

Nominations

21 nominations

• LeBron James

10 nominations

• Kobe Bryant
• Stephen Curry
• Tiger Woods

5 nominations

• Carmelo Anthony
• Odell Beckham Jr.

4 nominations

• Allen Iverson
• Patrick Mahomes II
• Floyd Mayweather Jr.
• Shaquille O'Neal

3 nominations

• Kevin Durant

2 nominations

• Giannis Antetokounmpo
• Barry Bonds
• Reggie Bush
• Victor Cruz
• Gervonta Davis
• Jalen Hurts
• Kyrie Irving
• Cam Newton
• Chris Paul
• Dwyane Wade
• Bubba Wallace

See also

• BET Award for Sportswoman of the Year

Notes and References

1. Web site: BET Awards 2001 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20191118112854/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2001/nominees.html. dead. November 18, 2019. BET. July 13, 2017.
2. Web site: BET Awards 2002 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20160821201833/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2002/nominees.html. dead. August 21, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
3. Web site: BET Awards 2003 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20200811193515/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2003/nominees.html. dead. August 11, 2020. BET. July 13, 2017.
4. Web site: BET Awards 2004 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20160821200328/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2004/nominees.html. dead. August 21, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
5. Web site: BET Awards 2005 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20160905101603/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2005/nominees.html. dead. September 5, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
6. Web site: BET Awards 2006 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20200806161936/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2006/nominees.html. dead. August 6, 2020. BET. July 13, 2017.
7. Web site: BET Awards 2007 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20200811194422/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2007/nominees.html. dead. August 11, 2020. BET. July 13, 2017.
8. Web site: BET Awards 2008 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20160905101750/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2008/nominees.html. dead. September 5, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
9. Web site: BET Awards 2009 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20160905101910/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2009/nominees.html. dead. September 5, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
10. Web site: BET Awards 2010 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20170710183432/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2010/nominees.html. dead. July 10, 2017. BET. July 13, 2017.
11. Web site: BET Awards 2011 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20110521002047/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2011/nominees.html. dead. May 21, 2011. BET. July 13, 2017.
12. Web site: BET Awards 2012 Winners & Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20120525102401/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2012/nominees.html. dead. May 25, 2012. BET. July 13, 2017.
13. Web site: BET Awards Nominees 2013 – Full List Of Hip-Hop Nominations. Andy Swift. Hollywood Life. May 18, 2015. February 20, 2017. https://web.archive.org/web/20170220170608/http://hollywoodlife.com/2013/05/14/bet-awards-nominees-2013-list-nominations/. dead.
14. Web site: BET Award 2014 Nominations Announced. Nokia Theatre L.A. LIVE. nokiatheatrelalive.com. May 18, 2015. July 21, 2014. https://web.archive.org/web/20140721031422/http://www.nokiatheatrelalive.com/news/detail/bet-award-2014-nominations-announced. dead.
15. Web site: Chris Brown and Nicki Minaj Lead BET Awards Nominations. Rap-Up. May 18, 2015.
16. Web site: BET Awards 2016 Winners & Nominees – Sportswoman of the Year. https://web.archive.org/web/20160620162825/http://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2016/nominees/sportswoman-of-the-year-award.html. dead. June 20, 2016. BET. July 13, 2017.
17. Beyoncé and Bruno Mars Top 2017 BET Awards Nominees Slate. Billboard. May 15, 2017. May 16, 2017.
18. News: DJ Khaled Leads 2018 BET Awards Nominations: See the Full List. May 16, 2018. Billboard. May 16, 2018.
19. Web site: Winners. https://web.archive.org/web/20191206233039/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2019/sportsman-of-the-year-award.html. dead. December 6, 2019. BET.
20. Web site: BET Awards 2020 Nominees. https://web.archive.org/web/20200617073731/https://www.bet.com/shows/bet-awards/2020/nominees/sportsman-of-the-year-award.html. dead. June 17, 2020. BET. June 16, 2020.
21. Web site: BET Awards 2021 Nominees. BET. June 16, 2021.
22. Web site: BET Awards 2022 Nominees. BET. June 26, 2022.