Seven years. The SLAM Top 50 has been around for a while now.
Creating the list is one of the most time-consuming and exciting projects of the year. An apt way to countdown the days until a new season begins.
The 2015 edition of the SLAM Top 50 still features LeBron James at the top, but taking a look at the rankings as a whole informs some interesting observations…
The list welcomes seven newcomers this year: Giannis Antetokounmpo (49), Rudy Gobert (48), Jeff Teague (43), Andrew Wiggins (38), Gordon Hayward (35), Draymond Green (29) and Jimmy Butler (18).
Some players made huge leaps from just a year ago: DeAndre Jordan (+17), Al Horford (+13), Klay Thompson (+12), Kawhi Leonard (+11) and DeMarcus Cousins (+11); while others made big dives: Joakim Noah (-27), Tony Parker (-26), Rajon Rondo (-24), Al Jefferson (-22), Goran Dragic (-18) and DeMar DeRozan (-16).
The Cavs have the most players in top-20 (3), but they don’t have another top-50 talent to join the Spurs, Bulls and Heat, who feature four players on the list.
At 39, Tim Duncan is the oldest player to make the Top 50 list in quiet a while, and he’s still a top-25 talent at that. Wiggins, the youngest player on our list, is nearly 19 years his junior.
As we wrap things up, we want to give a big shout out to the SLAM community. We wouldn’t keep doing this without the incredible comments, discussions and even, disagreements (we hear you about Dame!). You’re the reason we put the effort into making the best list we can.
We put the 2015 Top 50 list into the gallery above—a sort of Spark Notes version of the past month and a half. Like it? Hate it? That’s why we made it.
