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NBA #SoleWatch is an ongoing record of the best sneakers worn by today's players. What scores points? Wearing a variety of models, constantly switching up the rotation and taking risks. Timely colorways, rarity and the element of surprise. Taking all of these factors into account makes choosing the best of 450 players a tough, but enjoyable task.
There's quite a few sneaker-related stories that can be taken from this regular season. LeBron James fell back in love with his signature shoe, sticking with the LeBron 12 from opening night onward. Kevin Durant wanted nothing to do with the KD 7, barely wearing the shoe before eventually being ruled out for the season with a broken foot. Kobe Bryant also suffered another season-ending injury and didn't make it to the All-Star break. On a positive note, John Wall, Dame Lillard, Steph Curry and Kyrie Irving beefed up the league's signature athlete lineup with their own new lines.
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The biggest takeaway from the season is that brands are preparing for the future. New blood at Nike, the emergence of Under Armour and their potential MVP and adidas’ plans to dress more players in Stripes are all positive signs for the future of sneakers in the NBA.
Check out our wrap-up of the regular season with our final NBA #SoleWatch Power Rankings.
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Team: Toronto Raptors
Peak Ranking: 4
Season Stats: 7.9 PPG / 3.8 RPG / 1.4 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Toro' / Air Jordan 6 Retro 'Infrared' / Air Jordan 10 Retro 'Doernbecher' / Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Bred' / Air Jordan 12 Retro 'Flint' / Air Jordan 17 'Varsity Red' / Air Jordan 20 'Quickstrike' / Nike LeBron 2 Low
Johnson is probably the most surprising name on this list, but his collection stacks up well against just about everybody. Had he not spent the second half of the season wearing the same colorways of the HyperChase, he would have ranked much higher.
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Team: Golden State Warriors
Peak Ranking: 3
Season Stats: 23.9 PPG / 4.3 RPG / 7.7 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Under Armour ClutchFit Drive 'Blizzard' / Under Armour One 'Reveal' / Under Armour Curry One 'Home' / Under Armour Curry One 'Splash Party' / Under Armour Curry One 'BHM' / Under Armour Curry One 'Candy Reign' / Under Armour Curry One 'Father to Son' / Under Armour Curry One Low 'Father to Son' / Under Armour Curry One 'Chinese New Year'
It's been a great year for Curry, who carried the flag for Under Armour when they struck out on landing Kevin Durant last summer. What did he do? Played MVP-caliber basketball, led the ClutchFit Drive and launched his first signature shoe, the Curry One.
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Team: Oklahoma City Thunder
Peak Ranking: 3
Season Stats: 28.0 PPG / 7.3 RPG / 8.6 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 10 'OKC Alternate' PE / Air Jordan XX8 'Why Not? / Air Jordan XX9 'Photo Reel' / Air Jordan XX9 Navy/White PE / Air Jordan XX9 Black/Orange Elephant PE / Air Jordan XX9 White/Photo Blue-Orange Elephant PE / Air Jordan XX9 Grey/Navy PE / Air Jordan XX9 'Happy Birthday Mom' PE / Air Jordan XX9 'Orange Elephant' PE
Leading the Air Jordan is a big honor in itself; being a nightly triple-double threat in a wide range of personal colorways made Westbrook a Sole Watch favorite this season.
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Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Peak Ranking: 5
Season Stats: 21.9 PPG / 3.2 RPG / 5.2 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Nike Kyrie 1 'Dream' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Deceptive Red' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Christmas' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Infrared' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Awards Season' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Flytrap' / Nike Kyrie 1 'BHM' / Nike Kyrie 1 'Easter' / Nike Kyrie 1 White/Red-Yellow 'Double Nickel' PE / Nike Kyrie 1 Black/Red-Yellow PE / Nike Kyrie 1 Yellow/Black-Red PE / Nike Kyrie 1 Navy/Yellow-Red '57 Points' PE / Nike Kyrie 1 Red/Yellow PE
After leading the Hyperdunk 2014, Irving debuted the Nike Kyrie 1 in December. He was quickly added to the popular special occasion signature packs with LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Kevin Durant, and arguably had the best Nike shoes for All-Star Weekend and Easter. Games of 55 and 57 points set a strong foundation for the history of the model moving forward.
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Team: Phoenix Suns
Peak Ranking: 5
Season Stats: 15.4 PPG / 6.1 RPG / 2.3 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Nike Air Foamposite One 'Suns' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Oregon' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Knicks' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Fighter Jet' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Pewter' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Black Suede' / Nike Air Foamposite One 'Chromeposite' / Nike Air Foamposite Pro 'Gym Green' / Nike Air Foamposite Pro 'Asteroid' / Nike LeBron 3 Black/Red
Markieff is the Foamposite King of the NBA. He played in the Air Foamposite One and Foamposite Pro for the entire season, wearing no fewer than 16 different colorways between the two.
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Team: Toronto Raptors
Peak Ranking: 3
Season Stats: 9.8 PPG / 2.8 RPG / 1.0 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 2 Retro 'Infrared 23' / Air Jordan 6 Retro 'Slam Dunk' / Air Jordan 8 Retro 'Playoff' / Air Jordan 9 Retro 'Cool Grey' / Air Jordan 10 Retro 'Bulls Over Broadway' / Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Legend Blue' / Air Jordan 12 Retro 'Playoff' / Air Jordan 13 Dwyane Wade PE / Air Jordan 19 SE 'East' / Nike KD 4 Red/White iD / Nike Kobe 9 EXT 'Red Mamba'
Ross' sneaker game may not blow you away like the players ahead of him of this list, but he's incredibly consistent, and has been so since entering the league.
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Team: Phoenix Suns
Peak Ranking: 3
Season Stats: 10.4 PPG / 4.8 RPG / 1.6 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Bred' / Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Cool Grey' / Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Gamma Blue' / Air Jordan 12 Retro 'Taxi' / Nike LeBron 3 Black/Red / Nike LeBron 3 'Remix' / Nike LeBron 9 'Freegums' / Nike LeBron 10 'BHM' / Nike LeBron 10 White/Grey iD / Nike LeBron 12 Orange/White iD / Nike LeBron 12 Grey/White-Orange iD / Nike LeBron 12 Black/Purple iD
Other than the man himself, there's probably not a player in the league with a better Nike LeBron collection than Marcus.
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Team: Los Angeles Lakers
Peak Ranking: 1
Season Stats: 13.4 PPG / 2.3 RPG / 1.0 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 2 Retro 'Silver Anniversary' / Air Jordan 3 Retro 'BHM' / Air Jordan 3 Retro 'Flip' / Air Jordan 5Lab3 'Silver' / Air Jordan 5 Retro 'Green Bean' / Air Jordan 7 Retro 'Flint' / Air Jordan 11 Retro 'Cool Grey' 2001 / Air Jordan 13 Low 'Chutney' / Air Jordan 13 Low 'Whiteout' / Air Jordan 16 'Ginger' / Air Jordan 18.5 / Nike Kobe 1 Black/White / Nike Kobe 4 'MPLS' / Nike Kobe 4 'Prelude' / Nike Kobe 6 'BHM'
Young could have made a push for the top spot, but a knee injury has sidelined him since February. The fact that he still cracked the Top 3 shows how good his sneakers were up to that point.
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Team: Cleveland Cavaliers
Peak Ranking: 1
Season Stats: 25.3 PPG / 6.0 RPG / 7.4 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Nike LeBron 3 'All-Star' PE / Nike LeBron 12 'Christmas' / Nike LeBron 12 'Awards Season' / Nike LeBron 12 'Green Week' / Nike LeBron 12 'Veteran's Day' / Nike LeBron 12 'BHM' / Nike LeBron 12 'Easter' / Nike LeBron 12 'Taxi' PE / Nike LeBron 12 'Cavs 23 Chromosomes' PE / Nike LeBron 12 'Double Helix' PE / Nike LeBron 12 Black/Red PE / Nike LeBron 12 'Cool Grey' PE / Nike LeBron 12 Red/Yellow PE / Nike LeBron 12 'Bruce Lee' PE / Nike LeBron 12 Black/White-Red PE / Nike LeBron 12 Navy/White-Red PE / Nike LeBron 12 Navy/Red Yellow PE / Nike LeBron 12 White/Red-Silver PE / Nike LeBron 12 Low 'USA'
After he rejected the 11 last season, it was good to see the league's best player embracing and creating memories in his current signature shoe again. James wore approximately 50 different colorways of the LeBron 12, debuted the LeBron 12 Low and Ambassador 7 and even flashed back to the LeBron 3 for a game.
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Team: Phoenix Suns
Peak Ranking: 1
Season Stats: 9.0 PPG / 6.4 RPG / 1.6 APG
Sneaker Highlights: Air Jordan 2 Fred Jones 'Home' PE / Air Jordan 3 Retro 'Cement' / Air Jordan 4 Retro 'Laser' / Air Jordan 5 Retro 'Laser' / Air Jordan 6 Retro 'Motorsports' / Air Jordan 7 Retro 'Bordeaux' / Air Jordan 8 Retro 'Orange Blaze' / Air Jordan 8 Fred Jones 'TS' PE / Air Jordan 8 Retro Low 'Playoff' / Air Jordan 9 Retro 'Doernbecher' / Air Jordan 10 Retro 'CDP' / Air Jordan 11 Low IE 'Cobalt' / Air Jordan 13 Retro Low Black/Maize / Air Jordan 13 Gerald Wallace 'Away' PE / Air Jordan 13 Low Navy/Black / Air Jordan 14 Michael Finley 'Home' PE / Air Jordan Michael Finley 'Away' PE / Nike Kobe 6 'Sunset' / Nike Kobe 6 'Prelude' / Nike LeBron 10 'Gold Medal' / Nike Zoom Rookie 'Galaxy' / Nike Air Zoom Huarache 2K4
No NBA player had a better year in sneakers than Tucker. The only player to make the Power Rankings every week, Tucker impressed by bringing out pairs from his deep Air Jordan and Nike collection, including PEs made for players like Michael Finley and Fred Jones. He also had a season-best 9-straight weeks ranked #1.
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