BET Award for Athlete of the Year

Below are the nominees and winners for the BET Award for Best Female Athlete & Male Athlete. Serena Williams holds the record for most wins in the Female Athlete category with 8 wins, she also holds the record for the most nominations, being nominated every year since the awards inception. LeBron James holds the records with 5 wins for Male Athlete. Kobe Bryant comes in second place with 3 awards. The Best Male Athlete has always been a basketball player until Michael Vick won it in 2011.

Best Female Athlete

Year	Winner	Nominees
2012	Serena Williams	Skylar Diggins Candace Parker Brittney Griner Venus Williams
2011	Serena Williams	Tamika Catchings Candice Dupree Maya Moore Venus Williams
2010	Serena Williams	Tamika Catchings Vanessa James Candace Parker Venus Williams
2009	Serena Williams	Candace Parker Venus Williams Lisa Leslie Tamika Catchings
2008	Candace Parker	Cheryl Ford Serena Williams Venus Williams Tamika Catchings
2007	Serena Williams	Swin Cash Tamika Catchings Lisa Leslie Gail Devers
2006	Venus Williams	Serena Williams Lisa Leslie Sheryl Swoopes Chamique Holdsclaw
2005	Serena Williams	Gail Devers Lisa Leslie Venus Williams Laila Ali
2004	Serena Williams	Cheryl Ford Lisa Leslie Laila Ali Venus Williams
2003	Serena Williams	Sheryl Swoopes Lisa Leslie Laila Ali Venus Williams
2002	Laila Ali	Lisa Leslie Vonetta Flowers Venus Williams Serena Williams
2001	Marion Jones	Venus Williams Serena Williams Sheryl Swoopes

Best Male Athlete

2012	Kevin Durant	LeBron James Kobe Bryant Carmelo Anthony Victor Cruz
2011	Michael Vick	Derrick Rose Kobe Bryant Carmelo Anthony LeBron James
2010	LeBron James	Carmelo Anthony Kobe Bryant Usain Bolt Tiger Woods
2009	LeBron James	Reggie Bush Dwyane Wade Tiger Woods Kobe Bryant
2008	Kobe Bryant	Chris Paul LeBron James Tiger Woods Floyd Mayweather Jr.
2007	LeBron James	Reggie Bush Floyd Mayweather Jr. Dwyane Wade Tiger Woods
2006	LeBron James	Vince Young Kobe Byrant Tiger Woods Shaquille O'Neal
2005	Shaquille O'Neal	Tiger Woods LeBron James Donovan McNabb Allen Iverson
2004	LeBron James	Barry Bonds Carmelo Anthony Tiger Woods Shaquille O'Neal
2003	Kobe Bryant	Tiger Woods Barry Bonds Allen Iverson Tracy McGrady
2002	Kobe Bryant	Tiger Woods Derek Jeter Allen Iverson Michael Jordan
2001	Allen Iverson	Tiger Woods Kobe Bryant Shaquille O'Neal

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.