1.
Sneakers are the obvious stars of year-end compilations for this sector of the Internet, but let's not forget about the people who wear those sneakers — those who make them memorable and generally push things forward in the world of footwear. Those of are the sort of people who make up this list of the biggest names in sneakers for 2015. Mind you, this group isn't purely about influence — Nike CEO Mark Parker is nowhere to be found, nor are some of the less media-facing people making the industry tick. Rather, the names here were those in the sneaker headlines this year, causing the most chatter and traffic on this site. Get the list below and feel free to debate its merits in the comments.
2.
Last year, Nike Basketball made room for another signature athlete by giving Kyrie Irving his own signature shoe, the Nike Kyrie 1. While the shoe debuted in 2014 it really picked up steam this year, where it's been regularly spotted on courts at all levels of play, raising Irving's profile in the process. The shoe occupies the sort of budget range that Kevin Durant's once did, giving it a huge edge and appeal to the crowd that's not ready to spend $150 and up on a pair of sneakers. Irving's year was shortened by injury, but he's back now and his second signature shoe is off to a promising start.
4.
No person on this list is more mysterious than Brad Hall, the bespectacled man who took sneaker YouTube by storm with his deadpan, satirical reviews. Hall is a love-it or hate-it type of thing, but however you feel about him, you've got to admit that he was able to get in front of viewers, beyond the typical sneaker community ones, more than anyone else putting out shoe videos in 2015. He's even making videos for Foot Locker now. So widespread were his videos in their early days that there were even conspiracy theories about him being an industry plant, which speaks to the quality of his product.
6.
In 2015, Marty McFly finally got his self-lacing shoes. When Back to the Future day arrived on Oct. 21st, 2015, Michael J. Fox was all over the place, helping Nike roll out the next iteration of the Nike MAG. Like last time, when the shoes go on sale via charity auction (which isn't happening until 2016) the proceeds will benefit the Michael J. Fox Foundation for Parkinson's Research. And don't forget about Nike's coy BTTF Bruin that released this year as well.
8.
Where are you Yeezy? All over the resale market for thousands of dollars, on the feet of Mr. West during plenty of important pop culture moments and impacting the sneaker Internet in a way that few shoes were this year. Kanye West and adidas Originals made huge waves in 2015 with the release of the adidas Yeezy Boost line. As with all things Kanye, the product is certainly polarizing, but it's hard to argue that any sneaker lines made more noise than his over the past 12 months.
10.
King James' second stint in Cleveland has yet to produce a championship sneaker. On top of that, his new LeBron 13 has been one of least well received models of the Jason Petrie era. Those minuses aside though, the man still made sneaker history in 2015. He's the crown jewel in Nike Basketball's stable of signature athletes, as proved by the historic lifetime deal that he signed with the brand this fall. Like it or not, James is still king when it comes to on-court footwear.
12.
There are 200 million reasons why Harden is on this list. The bearded Rockets star saw his endorser status level up this year when he signed a massive deal with adidas, leaving Nike for a new contract that's rumored to be worth $200 million over 13 years. There hasn't been much from adidas and Harden yet on the product end — a limited 100-shoe release was the only retail offering to come from the partnership in 2015 — but this deal that will majorly impact the future of adidas Basketball. The true test will be where he ends up on next year’s list.
14.
You may not know Luber by name, but you've no doubt interacted with his sneakerhead data platform, Campless, at some point this year. In 2015, Luber's team continued to flesh out the toolset of the Campless website, adding features that let people appraise entire collections and linking up with celebs to get data on their sneakers. Proving how much of a force Luber will likely be in the sneaker world for years to come was a huge investment from Dan Gilbert, majority owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers.
16.
You could almost hear Under Armour CEO Kevin Plank's hands rubbing in delight at the brand's Baltimore HQ when Jason Kidd called Steph Curry "this generation's Michael Jordan." Just like yesteryear's youngsters wanted to be like Mike, kids today want to be like Steph — and they're buying his sneakers to show it. Curry helped Under Amour's salience in the footwear market reach an all-time high this year while cruising to an MVP award and an NBA Championship. Now if only UA could find this generation's Tinker Hatfield...
Drake
18.
Drake's been a member of the Jordan Brand family for a while now, but he kicked things into a higher gear this year by bringing some of his previously friends and family-only product to retail, at last. His much-anticipated OVO Fest appearance involved plenty of Jordan gear too, from that wild jumpsuit to the unveil of the OVO x Air Jordan 8. Oh, and he basically made a three-minute Jordan Brand commercial in the form of "Jumpman" off his collaborative project with Future, What a Time to Be Alive. Our condolences to Meek Mill.
Michael Jordan
20.
Has there been a recent year on record where Jordan's product didn't dominate the sneaker conversation? This year, his Jordan Brand won back many consumers with its remastered sneakers that were dedicated to recreating the quality of the originals. Jordan's name stayed in headlines too, whether it was about the ethics of his sneaker business, or the borrowing of his likeness in high-profile court cases. Not to mention the extra exposure that MJ had from his crying face appearing in many a .jpg in 2015.
