HoopsHype uses stats and accolades to determine the 19 best teenagers in NBA history, including LeBron, Zion, Luka, Wemby and more.
Fewer than 200 people in history have appeared in an NBA game as a teenager. And an even smaller – and more elite – group has performed well in the NBA prior to turning 20 years old. In fact, to this day, only one player in NBA history has achieved All-Star honors in their age-19 season or younger. (You might know who that is but as a hint: He wore purple and gold his entire time in the NBA.)
Today, we are going to take a look at the 19 best teenagers in NBA history, a list featuring some of the biggest names the league has ever seen and a few other names who unfortunately wound up disappointing after hot starts to their careers.
There have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures and most of them involve Jordan, LeBron, Kobe and Curry.
We’re in the golden era of sports cards, with some being sold for millions of dollars. Though not as hot a property as some baseball cards, there’s a big market for the basketball stuff too. Per our research, there have been at least 26 sales of NBA cards worth seven figures.
Most of them involve Michael Jordan, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Stephen Curry. One featuring the Warriors superstar actually tops the list of the most expensive sales ever.
The 2003-04 Upper Deck LeBron James Exquisite Collection Rookie Patch Autograph is the card sold most times in our list with 12. Other players that collectors are investing in are Giannis Antetokounmpo and Luka Doncic. The trading card industry is booming and still growing, and we’re sure there will be new record sales soon.
Following last year’s format, we have put together the consensus player rankings for 2024-25 using data from five websites: ESPN.com, CBS Sports, The Ringer, Action Network and, of course, HoopsHype. We all agreed on Nikola Jokic as the No. 1 NBA …
We all agreed on Nikola Jokic as the No. 1 NBA player, but discrepancies begin right after that choice.
For example, HoopsHype ranked Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Anthony Edwards, Jalen Brunson, Tyrese Maxey, Domantas Sabonis and Paolo Banchero higher than any other media outlet. Meanwhile, we put Giannis Antetokounmpo, Stephen Curry, LeBron James, Kawhi Leonard, Paul George and Jimmy Butler lower than the other featured websites.
Basically, we bet on younger stars to take another step forward and the older ones to regress a bit.
Anyways, here’s the consensus ranking for 2024-25.
Led by perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic and eight-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks are poised as serious contenders this season. With improved depth, they look even more dangerous than the last time around. By shedding $29 …
Led by perennial MVP candidate Luka Doncic and eight-time All-Star guard Kyrie Irving, the Dallas Mavericks are poised as serious contenders this season. With improved depth, they look even more dangerous than the last time around.
By shedding $29 million in salary from Tim Hardaway Jr and Josh Green, general manager Nico Harrison was able to add key pieces like Klay Thompson and Naji Marshall, ensuring Dallas remains an offensive powerhouse. Thompson, one of the game’s greatest shooters, joins Doncic and Irving to form a potentially lethal offensive trio. The floor spacing from Thompson and Irving will make it difficult for defenses to double-team Doncic without leaving open shooters.
Defensively, after acquiring Daniel Gafford and PJ Washington Jr., the Mavericks showed they could be a top defensive unit. Last year’s rookie standout Dereck Lively II, who impressed in the playoffs, and Marshall, replacing Derrick Jones Jr., will play key roles in maintaining a balanced attack on both ends of the court. With a strong core and key additions, Dallas is prepared for another deep playoff run and a legitimate championship push.
HoopsHype ranks the 40 greatest European basketball players in history, led by the likes of Nikola Jokic, Giannis Antetokounmpo, Pau Gasol and various other stars.
Outside of North America, Europe is by far the biggest basketball hotbed in the world – as proved by the large contingent of players from the Old Continent in the NBA in the last three decades.
HoopsHype ranks the Top 100 players in the NBA for 2024-25, featuring the likes of Luka Doncic, LeBron James, Victor Wembanyama and more.
Today we wrap up our offseason player ranking series with the most important piece of them all: our projection for the Top 100 players in the NBA for 2024-25.
The upper echelons of the ranking are again dominated by foreign-born players (the first American-born one comes at No. 6) and point guards (nine in the Top 25).
Nuggets superstar Nikola Jokic remains at No. 1, though it wasn’t a unanimous decision among HoopsHype staffers. Spurs’ Victor Wembanyama skyrocketed up the ranking, while LeBron James climbed three spots compared to this same list one year ago (which shouldn’t happen at age 39, but here we are).
Below, check out our Top 100 players in the NBA for 2024-25.
Do you think we will ever see the two best European players on the same team?
Welcome to Layup Lines, For the Win’s basketball newsletter. Subscribe here to get it delivered to your inbox every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Have feedback for the Layup Lines Crew? Leave your questions, comments and concerns through this brief reader survey. Now, here’s Bryan Kalbrosky.
It may sound like Dallas Mavericks legend Dirk Nowitzki is writing fan fiction about Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic as teammates.
But the reality is that Nowitzki’s dream of seeing Doncic and Jokic on the same team one day, while improbable, is not impossible. During a send-off for longtime NBA guard Goran Dragic in Slovenia last week, Nowitzki spoke about the possibility.
Here is what the 2011 NBA Finals MVP said about the 2023 NBA Finals MVP potentially playing alongside Doncic one day (via Eurohoops.net):
“They both have a great relationship with each other, they respect each other and like each other genuinely. They spend time with each other. I’m not sure, but of course, we want Luka in Dallas as long as we can. Hopefully, he finishes his career there, but I love Jokic’s game, how he plays the game with passion, and the skill level as a big is unbelievable. They’re both incredible players.”
During an interview with his teammate Michael Porter Jr. last season, Doncic was one of the first names that Jokic mentioned when asked who he felt were the best players in the league.
Last season, Jokic said that he would be open to teaming up with Doncic in the NBA. However, he added that he doesn’t want to leave Denver and that Doncic could join him on the Nuggets if he decides he is done with Dallas.
Cooper Flagg Sneakers
Rob Kinnan-USA TODAY Sports
Cooper Flagg is attending Duke next season. Duke is a Nike school. But the projected No. 1 overall pick in the 2025 NBA Draft just signed a deal with New Balance.
“This wasn’t supposed to happen. We’re not supposed to be here. Cooper Flagg is not supposed to be signed to New Balance today.
Yet, here we are.
This morning, New Balance released a promotional video featuring Flagg. It showed him shooting hoops in a driveway until a paper boy throws a newspaper in the driveway with a headline announcing Flagg’s decision.
New Balance labeled Flagg’s choice as “The Intelligent Choice,” seemingly taking a shot at the competitors around them. This was the brand’s announcement that they’d signed the newly minted Duke basketball star to a shoe deal.”
The ‘NBA 2K25’ video game comes out on September 6.
NBA 2K has released some ratings for the top players in the video game and the three best players are hardly a surprise.
Denver’s Nikola Jokic, Dallas’ Luka Doncic, and Milwaukee’s Giannis Giannis Antetokounmpo are tied for the top honor in the game. All three players will begin the year with a 97 rating, though they may begin to separate themselves from the pack as the game updates during the season.
Next up are Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Joel Embiid, LeBron James, Stephen Curry, Jayson Tatum, Kevin Durant, and Anthony Davis.
You can check out the rest of the players included in the top 20 below:
ESPN: Shai Gilgeous-Alexander receives 3rd-most votes for 2024-25 MVP prediction.
It’s the middle of August, which means the NBA calendar has entered its slowest portion of the year. Most of the offseason work is done and teams now await the start of the 2024-25 season.
To kill time, ESPN has published its annual “Summer Forecast” series. The exercise allows its media experts to give their opinions on some of the major storylines for next year.
Among the questions, a first-place vote receives five points, a second-place vote gets three points and a third-place vote gets one.
The Oklahoma City Thunder have been featured in several questions. But one of the more important storylines revolves around who wins MVP this upcoming season.
Shai Gilgeous-Alexander has had two straight top-five MVP finishes. He was runner-up last year. It feels like it’s due time for the 26-year-old to capture the prestigious award.
Among the ESPN voters, Gilgeous-Alexander is ranked third among players most likely to win MVP with 37 points. He is behind Luka Doncic and Nikola Jokic.
This is a little surprising to see. Gilgeous-Alexander would serve as a fresh face to win the award and has a strong case if the Thunder repeat as the top seed. He’s been one of the most efficient scorers in the league and that should continue.
Michael Cooper feels that one of the NBA’s perennial MVP candidates has a couple of major flaws that are holding him back big-time.
Back in the 1980s, Michael Cooper was an integral part of the Los Angeles Lakers’ Showtime dynasty. He spent all 12 of his NBA seasons with them, and he helped them win five world championships during that time.
Cooper was known as one of the greatest defenders in NBA history, and he was arguably the league’s very first 3-and-D player. He was also known for being the type of player and man who was intensity-personified and would always give 100%, and he would get on his teammates to make sure they did the same.
While on his podcast “Showtime,” the Hall of Fame wing brought up Dallas Mavericks superstar Luka Doncic. While he gave Doncic credit for his statistical production, he threw shade at the Slovenia native for being slow and “lazy” (h/t Lakers Nation).
“Luka [Dončić] gives you that triple-double almost about every night, but he’s too slow for me. If he wasn’t a scorer, I would cut him. I give him credit for that, but to me, he’s lazy. Doesn’t hustle back on defense.”
Cooper isn’t wrong in his assessment of Doncic. While Doncic should be praised for his career averages of 28.7 points, 8.7 rebounds and 8.3 assists a game, he isn’t exactly an impactful defender, and he plays at a slow pace offensively.
This became evident to those who hadn’t noticed yet in the NBA Finals several weeks ago. Doncic consistently walks the ball upcourt and doesn’t create pace or fast-break opportunities, and it bogged down the Mavs’ offense. While they averaged 117.9 points a game in the regular season, which was seventh in the league, that figure fell hard to 99.2 points a game in the championship series as Dallas lost in five games to the Boston Celtics.
He has always appeared to have a pudgy physique — in fact, in one game this past season, a fan heckled him and told him to get on the treadmill.
"LUKA YOU TIRED, GET ON THE TREADMILL!"
Luka Doncic reaction to fan incoming.
Luka Doncic has since pointed out the fan, who is being talked to by arena staff.
If Cooper were coaching Doncic — he coached the WNBA’s Los Angeles Sparks to back-to-back titles and has had numerous other coaching gigs — there’s no doubt he would’ve confronted the All-Star about his flaws in an effort to make him an even greater player.
