While it is impressive to watch longtime stars in sports continue to succeed, there is no thrill like seeing a previously unknown player emerge and take over the spotlight. Even in a landscape obsessed with scouting and recruiting, players still fall under the radar, and often produce the best stories of a season.
Every year, a new crop arrives. Some pass the test of time, while others never regain their flash-in-the-pan acclaim.
Either way, nothing can take away the moments they provided upon bursting onto the scene, providing memories that last for years, even if their peaks don’t.
Here are the top 10 breakout stars of 2014:
-
1. Adam Silver
As Roger Goodell has proven, being a well-liked and well-respected commissioner isn’t easy. Taking over for David Stern, the most successful NBA commissioner of all time, Silver earned universal praise for his first major decision in the new role, acting swiftly and decisively in banning Clippers owner Donald Sterling from the NBA for life after recordings of Sterling’s racist comments were released. The new commissioner even has shown foresight and a willingness to break away from long-standing hypocrisies in sports, having voiced his support for legalized sports betting.
-
2. Odell Beckham Jr.
The Giants couldn’t have done better with their first round pick in the 2014 NFL Draft. After missing the first month of the season due to injury, Beckham has made a weekly showcase of his unparalleled natural gifts, displayed most prominently with his unbelievable one-handed touchdown catch against the Cowboys. In addition to setting numerous rookie receiving records, Beckham ultimately could become the new face of the franchise, a talent unlike the Giants have seen on either side of the ball since Lawrence Taylor.
-
3. Shabazz Napier
Connecticut guard Shabazz Napier holds the championship trophy after defeating Kentucky. AP Napier already had won a national championship as a freshman at UConn, but was known as little more than one of Kemba Walker’s sidekicks. Three years later, Napier rewrote his legacy with an NCAA Tournament as impressive as his former teammate’s, carrying the seventh-seeded Huskies to a national championship with an assortment of clutch shots. He earned the Most Outstanding Player of the tournament and was drafted No. 24 overall by the Heat.
-
4. Mo’ne Davis
Perhaps the biggest Little League star ever, Davis earned an unlikely spot on the cover of Sports Illustrated – the first Little Leaguer to earn the honor – after becoming the first girl to earn a win and pitch a shutout in Little League World Series history. She also became the sixth girl to get a hit in the tournament. Though her Philadelphia team would lose in the US semifinals, it did little to diminish the excitement over the 13-year-old Davis, who after a publicity tour and commercial cameos has settled into a winter on the high school basketball court.
-
5. Masahiro Tanaka
Masahiro Tanaka was working on a Rookie of the Year campaign before injury struck. AP The Yankees had struck out when signing Japanese pitchers in the past (Exhibit A: Hideki Irabu; Exhibit B: Kei Igawa), but Tanaka proved early on to be worth the seven-year, $155 million contract he received before ever pitching in the majors. With the rest of the Yankees rotation injured and/or inconsistent, the 25-year-old right-hander opened 11-1 with a 1.99 ERA and was voted to the All-Star Game. However, Tanaka’s season would be cut short by a partially torn UCL in his throwing elbow, allowing him to make only two more starts after July 8.
-
6. Kawhi Leonard
Leonard is still the fourth most famous player on the Spurs, but the 23-year-old was the player most responsible for San Antonio winning its fifth NBA title. In addition to playing superb defense on LeBron James in the Finals, Leonard averaged 17.8 points and 61 percent shooting from the field in the five-game series win over the Miami Heat, becoming the third-youngest NBA Finals MVP in history.
-
7. Lorenzo Cain
[mlbvideo id=”36796231″ width=”612″ height=”360″ /]
Cain became the embodiment of the upstart Royals, swinging the momentum of postseason games with a collection of extraordinary catches in the outfield. The speedy outfielder, who didn’t begin playing baseball until his sophomore year of high school, was named the ALCS MVP after batting .533 against the Orioles, and hit .308 in the World Series.
-
8. Jose Abreu
Jose Abreu burst onto the scene with 36 homers on the South Side. AP The latest slugger to defect from Cuba signed with the White Sox after the 2013 season and ran away with the AL Rookie of the Year as a unanimous winner, capturing all 30 first-place votes. Abreu, 27, made the All-Star Game and became the first player to win Player of the Month and Rookie of the Month awards in the same month twice in one season. He finished his first season batting .317 with 36 homers and 107 RBIs.
-
9. Corey Kluber
Kluber was drafted by the Padres in 2007, but the right-hander didn’t make his first appearance on a major league mound until late in the 2011 season with the Indians. In 2012, he posted a 5.14 ERA in 12 starts. He showed progress the following season, going 11-5 with a 3.85 ERA, but he didn’t fully break out until this past season — as a 28-year-old — when he went 18-9 with a 2.44 ERA and 269 strikeouts en route to winning the AL Cy Young Award.
-
10. Marin Cilic
Marin Cilic kisses his US Open trophy. AP As the 16th-ranked player in the world, the 25-year-old Croat stunned the world by winning his first-ever grand slam in decisive fashion at the US Open, beating Roger Federer in the semifinals and Kei Nishikori in the championship — both in straight sets. Cilic, who had never reached a grand slam final previously, became the first US Open champion ranked outside of the Top 10 since 2002 and only the third player from outside the sport’s Big Four to win a major since the 2005 Australian Open.