NBA: All-time best player duo from each franchise's history

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(Photo credit should read PAUL BUCK/AFP/Getty Images)

The NBA’s history is littered with dynamic duos who led their teams to both regular season and playoff success. These are the best for each team.

The whirlwind circus that was the 2019 NBA offseason saw a number of the league’s best players join forces to create what could be some of the most fearsome duos in league history.

With Kawhi Leonard and Paul George linking up with the LA Clippers to rival their co-tenant Los Angeles Lakers rivals LeBron James and Anthony Davis, not to mention James Harden’s reunion with Russell Westbrook and the other incumbent tandems, the tradition of star players combining their talents to chase a championship will continue for at least another season.

Despite the recent hand-wringing over the rise of “superteams” and stars teaming up with one another, this has been a key feature of most good NBA teams. In a sport where the best players have a more seismic impact on the final score than the elite baseball, football (outside of the quarterback), and hockey players do in theirs, stockpiling your roster with as many top players within the confines of the salary cap is the surest path to on-court success.

So it should surprise no one that most of the NBA championship teams have been headlined by at least two superstar players or, at the very least, one superstar and a reliable second-tier star. Heck, two stars is often a prerequisite for a team to be in the championship conversation. It’s the Occam’s Razor of team building.

Whether it was a pair of all-time greats to a couple of flawed all-stars, every team has put together some sort of productive twosome that has carried them to varying levels of success. But which ones stood out above the others? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.

Next: Atlanta Hawks

LA Clippers</a> to rival their co-tenant Los Angeles Lakers rivals LeBron James and Anthony Davis, not to mention James Harden’s reunion with Russell Westbrook and the other incumbent tandems, the tradition of star players combining their talents to chase a championship will continue for at least another season.</p> <p>Despite the recent hand-wringing over the rise of “superteams” and stars teaming up with one another, this has been a key feature of most good NBA teams. In a sport where the best players have a more seismic impact on the final score than the elite baseball, football (outside of the quarterback), and hockey players do in theirs, stockpiling your roster with as many top players within the confines of the salary cap is the surest path to on-court success.</p> <p>So it should surprise no one that most of the NBA championship teams have been headlined by at least two superstar players or, at the very least, one superstar and a reliable second-tier star. Heck, two stars is often a prerequisite for a team to be in the championship conversation. It’s the Occam’s Razor of team building.</p> <p>Whether it was a pair of all-time greats to a couple of flawed all-stars, every team has put together some sort of productive twosome that has carried them to varying levels of success. But which ones stood out above the others? Well, that’s what we’re here to find out.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Atlanta Hawks </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_364211" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-364211" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F50726751.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/50726751.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/50726751-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Steve Lipofsky/The LIFE Images Collection via Getty Images/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Atlanta Hawks history: Dominique Wilkins and Kevin Willis</h2> <p>When you google the word “mediocre” here’s the definition the popular search engine gives you: only of moderate quality; not very good.</p> <p>Does that not sum up the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/atlanta-hawks/">Atlanta Hawks</a>‘ entire existence?</p> <p>Even when the team puts together a great season, the fans don’t view them as a legitimate championship contender.</p> <p>Not only has this team spent the last seven decades underwhelming their fans with early playoff exits, but they have also bored them with an equally long list of mundane, second-tier stars. Guys like Joe Johnson, Josh Smith, Steve Smith, Christian Laettner, Mookie Blaylock, and Al Horford.</p> <p>To find the last true Hawks superstar, you have to go back to the mid-1980s. There you’ll find some of the best Hawks teams in franchise history — their Atlanta history, at least — headlined by scoring machine Dominique Wilkins.</p> <p>Aptly nicknamed “The Human Highlight Film”, Wilkins kept Hawks fans glued to either their seats in the arena or their television screens at home as no one wanted to miss what he did on the court.</p> <p>Of course, the Hawks never found an adequate co-star to pair with Wilkins to get them over the semi-finals hump. The best they could do — outside of bringing in an aging Moses Malone for three seasons — was Kevin Willis.</p> <p>Willis played alongside Wilkins for nine seasons (1984-85 to1993-94) and in that time, he became a solid fringe All-Star player. Collectively, Wilkins and Willis compiled 16.5 win shares (WS) per season. Not bad, but not enough to get past the likes of the Boston Celtics and the Philadelphia 76ers.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Boston Celtics </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_364330" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-364330" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1199,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F900547704.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1199" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/900547704.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/900547704-768x576.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Lane Turner/The Boston Globe via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Boston Celtics history: Larry Bird and Kevin McHale</h2> <p>Well, you don’t win 17 championships without drafting, developing, trading for, and signing a few all-time great players.</p> <p>Whether it was the underappreciated Bill Russell or Kevin Garnett leading anchoring some of the greatest defenses in NBA history or John Havlicek, Bob Cousy, Sam Jones, Jo Jo White, Paul Pierce contributing their greatness to the championship cause, the Boston Celtics have housed at least one Hall of Fame player on their roster for much of their history.</p> <p>That said, Boston’s storied history isn’t filled with that many duos. Red Auerbach built much of those dominant 1960s teams around rosters that wouldn’t look out of place at an All-Star game, the 70s featured a revolving door of stars around Havlicek, and their most recent title run in 2007-08 was steered by the Garnett/Pierce/Ray Allen Big 3. The less said about the 90s, the better.</p> <p>That leaves the 80s, where Boston snagged three titles while engaged in a rivalry with the Los Angeles Lakers that brought the league to prominence, for all intents and purposes. Which two players were at the forefront of this success?</p> <p>With Larry Bird — one of the greatest small forwards in NBA lore — and Kevin McHale — a low post savant despite looking like Herman Munster’s stunt double (man, that’s a washed reference) — the Celtics became <em>the</em> team in Boston. While there are many explanations for why the city embraced these two that ties into the historical racial tensions of the city (keep in mind that this team wasn’t nearly as beloved during the Russell-era, which bore more team success), their collective play (combined 20.4 WS per season) and the team’s success played a huge role in that legendary status.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Brooklyn Nets </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_364508" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-364508" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1070,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F56629569.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1070" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/56629569.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/56629569-768x514.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Issac Baldizon/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Brooklyn Nets history: Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson</h2> <p>Many <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/brooklyn-nets/">Brookyln Nets</a> fans probably want to see the newly acquired tandem of Kevin Durant and Kyrie Irving in this spot, but we should wait until these two play an actual game together before anointing The Man With Many Burner Accounts and The Flat Earther as the franchise saviors.</p> <p>For now, let’s focus on an actual duo that led this team to their two NBA Finals appearances in 2002 and 2003: Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson. Of course, labeling these two as a “duo” is a bit generous considering that those early 2000s Nets teams subsisted on tough defense — they led the league in defensive rating in 01-02 and 02-03 — and Kidd creating easy shots for his mediocre teammates. Jefferson was the closest thing New Jersey had to a secondary star alongside their discount Magic Johnson.</p> <p>We all know that Kidd got high-volume shooting point guard Stephon Marbury out the paint — or more accurately, the mid-range area — via a 2001 trade with the Phoenix Suns that temporarily uplifted this historically snakebitten franchise, but the draft-day trade for Jefferson was even shrewder, as these two and Kerry Kittles became an impenetrable perimeter defensive force (until they played the Lakers, of course).</p> <p>All told, their combined 16.1 WS per season and two Eastern Conference Championships make the Kidd/Jefferson, if not Kidd and the Pips, the most beloved part of the Nets’ NBA history. Maybe KD and Irving will provide something rosier for the team when they finally take to the court as teammates.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Charlotte Hornets </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_305475" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-305475" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F168407773.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/168407773.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2017/07/168407773-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Charlotte Hornets history: Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson</h2> <p>Mention Alonzo Mourning and Larry Johnson in the same sentence and <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VKJ__5FZ26M%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">this infamous brawl</a> during the end of a 1998 Miami Heat/New York Knicks playoff game probably springs to mind first. But before these two threw hands at Madison Square Garden, they shared the floor as teammates for an upstart franchise over 600 miles south of The Mecca.</p> <p>After a trio of innocuous seasons, the Charlotte Hornets nabbed their first franchise cornerstone when they took Johnson with the first overall pick in the 1991 draft. The former UNLV Runnin’ Rebel played well enough in his rookie season to convince Hornets fans that good times were on the way (19.2 points per game, 11.0 rebounds per game, .140 WS/48) but the team still needed another star to cement their status as a perennial playoff team.</p> <p>Enter Alonzo Mourning. Charlotte brought the former Georgetown center with the second overall pick in 1992 — behind a, uh, slightly more productive big man — and he quickly meshed with his frontcourt mate. The two combined to average .139 WS/48 in their three seasons together, culminating with a 50-32 season in 1994-95, though it ended abruptly courtesy of the back-from-baseball Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls. Even still, this surely led to a bright future and many more postseason runs with these two anchoring the franchise, right?</p> <p>Unfortunately, that didn’t happen. The professional animus between Johnson and Mourning always simmered under the surface from the moment they stepped on the floor together, but the tenuous relationship deteriorated even further once Johnson signed a 12 year, $84 million contract on the same day Jordan announced his retirement.</p> <p>That and the 1995 lockout making Mourning an unrestricted free agent gave the star center all the ammunition he needed to request a massive extension. Instead of capitulating, the Hornets instead sent him to Miami for a package that included underrated bucket-machine Glen Rice. Not long after, they traded Johnson to the Knicks for Anthony Mason — who became a versatile third-tier star with them — and Brad Lohaus. Hey, at least it gave us <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ezyc4GeifGA%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">an interesting Beef History</a> to enjoy.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Chicago Bulls </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_365351" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-365351" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1140767883.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1140767883.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1140767883-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Gary Dineen/NBAE via Getty Images).</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Chicago Bulls history: Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen</h2> <p>It seems silly now, but when Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984, a number of pundits questioned how good he would be and if he could lead a team to a championship.</p> <p>Even the Chicago Bulls thought they were getting fool’s gold with Jordan, they tried everything they could to trade out of the third pick to avoid Jordan, though that probably spoke more to their incompetence than diligent research, as this <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.chicagotribune.com/sports/ct-bulls-draft-michael-jordan-1984-lincicome-column.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener"><em>Chicago Tribune</em> column from 1984 attests</a>.</p> <p>Sadly, the Bulls were stuck with a man who became the best player in the game within three seasons. But it still wasn’t enough to turn the historically woeful Bulls into a championship contender (frankly, Jordan should be lucky that shows like <em>First Take </em>weren’t around then).</p> <p>Despite averaging 31.7 points with .226 WS/48 in his first three seasons, the Bulls bowed out of the first round each time, seemingly affirming those early concerns. That all changed when the Bulls selected Scottie Pippen with the fifth overall pick in the 1987 draft.</p> <p>It took a few wars with the Detroit Pistons, but the Jordan and Pippen Bulls eventually reached the pinnacle of the sport in 1991 when they beat what was left of the “Showtime” Lakers to with their first championship.</p> <p>What followed was a run of dominance not seen since the 60s Celtics. With Jordan and Pippen terrorizing opposing wings on offense and defense to the tune of a combined .222 WS/48, Chicago ranked no worse than seventh in defensive rating and combined with some outstanding offensive seasons — particularly in 90-91, 91-92, 95-96, and 96-97 — the Bulls won six NBA titles, securing their place as one of the greatest dynasties in sports.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Cleveland Cavaliers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-265827" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_560,w_850/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2017%2F07%2F694324092-2017-nba-finals-game-four.jpg.jpg" alt=""></p> <h2>Best duo from Cleveland Cavaliers history: LeBron James and Kyrie Irving</h2> <p>Ironically, this partnership began with LeBron James <em>leaving</em> the Cleveland Cavaliers. We all know the story by now.</p> <p>After the Celtics eliminated his Cavs from the conference semis in 2010, James, an unrestricted free agent that offseason, sat down with Jim Grey for the historic “The Decision” special and announced his intentions to sign with the Miami Heat.</p> <p>Naturally, losing James reverted the Cavs back to afterthoughts they were before they hit the lottery in 2003. With a 19-63 record, the 2010-11 Cavs revealed how wretched that roster was sans their generational star, but their putrid play brought them the shiniest of silver linings: they won the 2011 Draft Lottery.</p> <p>Cleveland used that pick to take Duke point guard Kyrie Irving in that June’s draft and while his impressive traditional stats masked a still-awful team, his play inspired enough hope to lure James back to his hometown team.</p> <p>All told, the three-year union — which also included All-Star forward Kevin Love — produced fruitful results for the Cavs. James and Irving collectively averaged .195 WS/48 in that span and reached the NBA Finals in each of those seasons, including their historic comeback in 2016 against the vaunted Golden State Warriors, which James and Irving secured with “The Block” and a go-ahead 3, respectively, in Game 7.</p> <p>But much like the circumstances that led to their partnership, the seeds of dissent were planted long before James and Irving teamed up. Irving reportedly never wanted James to return to Cleveland, going as far as to say “We don’t need him” after James hinted at possibly coming back (clearly his view of those LeBron-less Cavs were as silly as his pseudoscience takes or his knowledge of the Federal Reserve).</p> <p>From there, the relationship continued to fall apart — as Irving grew tired of playing second fiddle to James — until the Cavs traded Irving to the Boston Celtics. Still, James and Irving brought Cleveland that much-desired championship, and that’s all that matters.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Dallas Mavericks </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_365612" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-365612" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2240,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F577902740.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2240" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/577902740.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/577902740-768x538.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Albert Pena/Icon SMI/Corbis via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Dallas Mavericks history: Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry</h2> <p>Prior to the 2004-05 season, most Dallas Mavericks fans believed Dirk Nowitzki and Steve Nash would lead their favorite team to a championship. After all, those two basically rehabilitated the toxic waste dump that was the Mavs franchise, even reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2003, so the unusually sunny optimism was more than justifiable.</p> <p>However, that bright future dimmed a little bit when Nash left Dallas to rejoin the Phoenix Suns. Owner Mark Cuban’s reticence to hand a long-term deal to a man who he was concerned wouldn’t be able to walk after retirement opened the door for Nash to unlock his full array for Jedi point guard skills under Mike D’Antoni.</p> <p>Of course, this meant that Dallas needed to find a new guard to fill the 6-foot-3, 195-pound hole in their lineup and lighten the scoring load for the ascending Nowitzki, who hadn’t evolved into his MVP form yet.</p> <p>Fortunately for Dallas, they merely needed to sift through the scrap heap that was the Atlanta Hawks’ roster to find their next star backcourt player — Jason Terry.</p> <p>While Terry never came close to matching Nash’s playmaking alchemy, he more than held up his end of the scoring requirement, averaging 16.1 points with a .462/.388/.847 shooting line in eight seasons in Dallas.</p> <p>His speed and floor spacing made him an adroit pick-and-roll partner beside Nowitzki. Together, they kept the Mavs at or near the top of the Western Conference standings for most of the 2000s with their .184 WS/48, Terry’s Sixth Man of the Year Award win in 2008-09, Nowitzki winning the MVP in 2006-07, and the team upsetting the LeBron/Dwyane Wade/Chris Bosh Heat to win their first NBA title in 2011, cashing in on the hope that Nowitzki and Nash brought to this team a decade prior.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Denver Nuggets </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367664" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367664" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2019%2F08%2F1052943642.jpeg" alt="Denver Nuggets" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2019/08/1052943642.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2019/08/1052943642-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Garrett Ellwood/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Denver Nuggets history: Dan Issel and David Thompson</h2> <p>After falling short in the ABA Western Division Finals in 1975, the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/denver-nuggets/">Denver Nuggets</a> knew they needed a couple more star players alongside leading scorer Ralph Simpson to reach the championship round, especially following the departure of Mack Calvin.</p> <p>Fortunately for the Nuggets, former Kentucky Colonels forward and ABA scoring champion Dan Issel fell into their lap. Acquired from the Baltimore Claws — who got him from the Colonels, but folded soon after and sent him to the Nuggets — the Nuggets hoped Issel’s proficient mid-range game, rebounding, and crafty post skills would help them build on their success from 1974-75.</p> <p>Still, the Nuggets needed another guy to pair with Issel. Enter Michael Jordan’s favorite player: David Thompson. The Nuggets signed the former N.C. State standout after he was drafted first overall by both the Atlanta Hawks and the Virginia Squires in their league’s respective drafts and basically said “No Thanks” to both of them and those teams’ loss was Denver’s gain.</p> <p>While Issel drained shots over his opponents with his high release, sealed off defenders on the block and cut to the open spot in the paint to either finish at the hoop or draw a foul, “The Skywalker” wowed crowds with his pogo stick leaping ability, which he used to either posterize a stationery big man or to stop on a dime and rise over his defender for a jumper.</p> <p>With Issel (23.0 points per game) and Thompson (26.0 points per game, ABA Rookie of the Year in 75-76) at the forefront, the Nuggets maintained their offensive excellence, ranking second in offensive rating en route to a 60-24 season and a trip to the ABA Finals.</p> <p>The Nuggets moved to the NBA the next season thanks to the ABA/NBA merger, where Issel and Thompson shared the court for six more seasons and made one more conference finals appearance together. In total, they combined for .171 WS/48 together.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Detroit Pistons </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_366606" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-366606" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1139381376.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1139381376.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1139381376-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Gregory Shamus/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Detroit Pistons history: Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer</h2> <p>Before Michael Jordan became the measuring stick for which all players are measured, he received a level of derision in the press that’s reserved these days for LeBron James. Sure, falling short to the Boston Celtics with *checks notes* Charles Oakley as the Bulls’ second-best player is understandable, but the team’s shortcomings against the Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s really sparked questions regarding how long it would take Jordan to win a championship, if ever.</p> <p>Of course, this all sounds silly in hindsight, but even then, the notion of laying an entire team’s failures at one player’s feet undermines the idea of basketball as a <em>team</em> sport and ignores the effort of the opponent.</p> <p>Jordan’s losses to those Pistons teams were the byproduct of him being the only offensive option on the team (yes, Scottie Pippen was there, but his offense was still a work in progress). This led to the Pistons implementing the “Jordan Rules” to slow him down, but the Pistons needed their own scoring punch to counter the dazzling guard.</p> <p>In Isiah Thomas and Bill Laimbeer, the Pistons had just that. With Thomas, Detroit had a blur at the point guard position with ball-handling, playmaking, and finishing skills to match. His aesthetically-pleasing game meshed will Laimbeer’s, uh, let’s go with “tough” defense and underrated shooting stroke, even though Laimbeer was as pleasant as the sound of sandpaper.</p> <p>In addition to frustrating Jordan’s Bulls, Laimbeer and Thomas combined for .134 WS/48 in 12 full seasons together, leading the Pistons to consecutive NBA championships in 1988-89 and 1989-90. Eventually, Jordan got over the hump and Thomas and Laimbeer retired after the 93-94 season; Thomas because of his Achilles and Laimbeer for realizing he was too much of a jerk. But they and the rest of the “Bad Boys” will be remembered as one of the few teams that stymied Jordan.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Golden State Warriors </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_366617" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-366617" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2202,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1146564383.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2202" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1146564383.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1146564383-768x528.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Harry How/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Golden State Warriors history: Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant</h2> <p>Boiling the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/golden-state-warriors/">Golden State Warriors</a>‘ recent dominance down to two people is a disingenuous proposition since their rosters over the last few years have resembled the results of a fantasy draft on <em>NBA </em><em>2K</em>. But if one were to go through the exercise, Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson seem like the obvious choices.</p> <p>After all, it was the “Splash Brothers” who pulled the franchise out of the septic sludge it was stuck in for almost all of the 90s and 00s. It was the Splash Brothers who guided the Warriors to the NBA title in 2015 and were the engine behind their record-breaking 73-win season (we won’t talk about how that year ended).</p> <p>There’s a strong case for the Curry/Thompson combo — and the Curry/Draymond Green tandem as well — but in terms of production, neither matches what Curry and Kevin Durant brought to Oakland between 2016-17 and 2018-19.</p> <p>Take last year, for instance. During the regular season, the Curry/Durant concoction finished with a +15.7 net rating, barely eclipsing Curry and Thompson’s +13.6 figure and Curry and Green’s +14.3. While all of those totals are impressive, it should surprise no one that the glorified <em>NBA Jam </em>twosome are more fruitful than the ones that feature a player who can’t create their own shot.</p> <p>The supercharged Warriors with Curry and Durant at the fore brought the team three Western Conference crowns and two NBA Finals wins, with Curry and Durant collaborating for .228 WS/48 in their three seasons together. Those Dubs were superteams, but it was the two former MVP’s that made them super.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Houston Rockets </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367010" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367010" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F84477113.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/84477113.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/84477113-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Houston Rockets history: Tracy McGrady and Yao Ming</h2> <p>This is a bit of a controversial pick considering how many times the Tracy McGrady/Yao Ming-led Houston Rockets lost in the first round and their alternating positions on the injured list, but when both were healthy, they created plenty of headaches for opposing head coaches. Their combined .174 WS/48 doesn’t lie.</p> <p>Yao, who the Rockets selected with the first overall pick in the 2002 Draft, surprised a lot of hot take artists that declared him a bust before he played a single NBA game with his footwork in the post and his mobility on the defensive end.</p> <p>Eventually, Yao added a mid-range shot to his repertoire and with those skills wrapped in a 7-foot-6-inch frame, he quickly established himself as one of the game’s best two-way bigs.</p> <p>Combine that with McGrady, who the Rockets traded for prior to the 2004-2005 season following back-to-back scoring titles with the Orlando Magic, and Houston went from a so-so fringe playoff team to a legitimate championship contender.</p> <p>With Yao’s aforementioned abilities and McGrady rising over smaller wings or getting to the hoop at will, they often shouldered the scoring load for Jeff Van Gundy’s defensive-minded Rockets teams. Unfortunately, it often caught up with them in the postseason.</p> <p>In the McGrady/Yao era, the Rockets finished in the top 10 in defensive rating each season, but they never ranked higher than 15th in points per 100 possessions (they were also a slow-paced team for the era). The iso-heavy offense was often their downfall, and once both men’s respective bodies began to break down, that quelled any remaining title hopes.</p> <p>Unlike the Olajuwon era, the McGrady/Yao Rockets era will be remembered as much for what they didn’t do instead of how good they were, which sucks.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Indiana Pacers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367036" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367036" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1061,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F467550001.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1061" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467550001.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/467550001-768x509.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Sporting News via Getty Images via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Indiana Pacers history: Reggie Miller and Dale Davis</h2> <p>In a way, the 1990s Indiana Pacers symbolized the unpleasant, sluggish pace of that era of NBA basketball while giving glimpses of what the sport would become in about 20 years. In that decade — in which Indiana made the playoffs nine times, reached the Eastern Conference Finals five times and the NBA Finals once — the Pacers ranked near the bottom of the league in pace in all but two seasons.</p> <p>Like their rivals, the New York Knicks, those Indiana teams embraced the rugged style that makes the old-timers swoon, and for the Pacers, Dale Davis was the guy who administered most of the punishment.</p> <p>Davis basically served as the Mr. Pibb to Charles Oakley’s Dr. Pepper. He wasn’t a scorer by any means — though he did post double-digit scoring averages in half of his 10 seasons in Indiana — but his rebounding and willingness to terrorize anyone who even thought about driving to the rim played a big role in making the Pacers one of the league’s best defensive teams during their run.</p> <p>Oh, and he set plenty of brick wall-like screens to get Miller open.</p> <p>While Davis handled the dirty work inside, Miller — one of the greatest 3-point shooters in history — led some tremendous offenses that flew under the radar thanks to its languid tempo. Through the 99-00 season, the Pacers ranked no worse than 11th in offensive rating despite Miller often being the only player on the team who could create his own shot.</p> <p>For any hot take gasbag or oblivious youngster who doubts Miller’s shot-creating ability, he was a master at using a defender’s momentum against him to drive and either shoot over them with his lanky wingspan or draw contact and get to the free-throw line. He wasn’t some glorified Kyle Korver. I’m sure Spike Lee or any Knicks player from that time will say the same.</p> <p>With Davis and Miller anchoring the defense and offense, respectively, they finished with .164 WS/48 together and gave Pacers fans plenty of fond memories, even if they didn’t win a championship.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> LA Clippers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367063" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367063" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2130,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F668556560.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2130" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/668556560.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/668556560-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Andrew D. Bernstein/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from LA Clippers history: Chris Paul and Blake Griffin</h2> <p>You don’t need me to tell you how terrible the LA Clippers were prior to the “Lob City” era, but I’ll recount it anyway: the franchise moved from Buffalo in 1978 and proceeded to give the city of San Diego — and later Los Angeles — an on-court product akin to expired milk sitting outside on a hot day.</p> <p>That is until the team drafted Blake Griffin with the number one pick in the 2009 NBA Draft. His skills remained a work in progress, but the former Oklahoma Sooner averted some of those early question marks with a healthy offering of dunks (he would become a much better all-around player as time went on).</p> <p>Those Griffin SportsCenter highlights were often cool, but as the Clippers’ 30-52 record showed, the team needed something more. Good thing then-NBA commissioner David Stern was around to lend a helping hand.</p> <p>Prior to the 2011-12 season, Stern, who oversaw the New Orleans Hornets while waiting for someone to purchase the team, nixed a trade that would’ve sent superstar point guard Chris Paul to the Los Angeles Lakers, citing that the deal wouldn’t have been in the best interest of the Hornets. This allowed the other L.A. team to swoop in and acquire him shortly after and what resulted was a level of prosperity that the Clippers had seldom experienced.</p> <p>With Paul orchestrating the offense and heaving alley-oops to Griffin — and DeAndre Jordan — the Clippers briefly usurped the Lakers as the most talked-about basketball team in the city. Sure, they never made it past the second round, but Paul and Griffin (.229 combined WS/48) elevated the franchise to heights it had never experienced. Without it, they may have never gotten to see a 2019-20 roster that features Paul George and Kawhi Leonard.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Los Angeles Lakers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367146" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367146" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1090,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51685579.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1090" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51685579.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51685579-768x523.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo credit should read JEFF HAYNES/AFP/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Los Angeles Lakers history: Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal</h2> <p>Here’s an interesting note: while researching this piece, I found out that Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal finished their tenure as Los Los Angeles Lakers teammates with the same combined WS/48 as Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain (.212).</p> <p>There are some parallels between those early-2000s Lakers and the late-60s-early-70s outfit, but Shaq and Kobe’s two additional titles give them the nod here.</p> <p>The seeds of this coalition were planted toward the tail-end of the Bulls dynasty. O’Neal, who spent his first four seasons with the Magic, grew tired of the Orlando media and fanbase scrutinizing every aspect of his life and skedaddled to L.A. in 1996 (you know, because the bigger markets are <em>always </em>easier to handle), the same year in which the Lakers traded for high school standout Bryant during the NBA Draft.</p> <p>A couple of years later, Bryant — who developed his flashy promise into a good Michael Jordan impersonation — and O’Neal became a Western Conference powerhouse under Phil Jackson’s tutelage. You know, the same Phil Jackson who coached the Bulls to those six NBA titles.</p> <p>With Shaq and Kobe leading the way, the Lakers fended off some stout competition out West — including the San Antonio Spurs, Sacramento Kings, and Portland Trail Blazers — winning three straight championships between 2000-02.</p> <p>Of course, we all know the Shaq/Kobe era ended in the messiest manner possible, which was capped off with a five-game loss to the underdog Detroit Pistons in the 2004 Finals. But the peaks were about as high as an NBA team could get.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Memphis Grizzlies </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_339145" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-339145" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F04%2F1089940720.jpeg" alt="NBA Trade Deadline" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/1089940720.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/04/1089940720-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Joe Murphy/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Memphis Grizzlies history: Marc Gasol and Mike Conley</h2> <p>Come on, did you really think anyone else would end up here for the Memphis Grizzlies? Were you expecting a surprise appearance by Bryant Reeves or Sharif Abdur-Rahim? Do you even remember when this team played in Vancouver?</p> <p>In their 10 full seasons as teammates — which included seven playoff appearances and a trip to the Western Conference Finals in 2013 — Mike Conley and Marc Gasol embodied the blue-collar mentality that Memphis wore as a badge of honor.</p> <p>Sure, there were players who were more athletic and who posted gaudier numbers — though Conley and Gasol’s numbers look a bit better when adjusted to per 100 possessions rates — but the two steered some great defenses and did enough on offense to propel the Grizzlies to the franchise’s most successful run.</p> <p>Alongside lumbering-but-talented big man Zach Randolph and Bizarro James Harden a.k.a. Tony Allen, the Grizzlies ranked in the top ten in defensive rating in six of their seven playoff seasons. Again, these offenses weren’t exactly revolutionary, but Gasol’s prowess as a passer, spot-up shooter and as a post scorer paired well enough with Conley’s steady hand in the pick-and-roll to offset everyone else’s remedial skills on that side of the floor.</p> <p>Gasol and Conley weren’t exactly a duo that people would rush to play with on NBA Jam, as their combined .141 WS/48 bear out (no pun intended). But they were the right fit for those Grizzlies teams, which is why both men will be beloved in that city until the sun dies out. Grizzlies fans can only hope that Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. live up to or exceed that standard.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Miami Heat </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367153" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367153" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F492505627.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/492505627.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/492505627-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Nathaniel S. Butler/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Miami Heat history: LeBron James and Dwyane Wade</h2> <p>Another no-brainer. To say that LeBron James and Dwyane Wade made a pretty good tandem is like saying that <em>Avengers: Endgame</em> was “kinda long.”</p> <p>These two combined for .243 WS/48 in four seasons with the Miami Heat. How great were they? Wade played like a low-key MVP candidate during this brief run and he was clearly the second-best player on the team.</p> <p>If you need me to explain how this duo came to be, allow me to congratulate you on just becoming an NBA fan. Along with Toronto Raptors star Chris Bosh, James came to Miami via free agency in 2010, announcing his intentions through the “Decision” special that was touched on in the James/Irving slide.</p> <p>With the three All-Stars in tow, Miami became the team that players who sucked at <em>NBA 2K </em>played as online. In particular, the long-time friends James and Wade developed immediate chemistry, tossing lob passes to one another as if they were playing against random goobers in a pick-up game.</p> <p>As if he needed to, this run in Miami cemented James as the NBA’s best player and with a still-elite, albeit aging and banged up, Wade as his sidekick, the Heat reached the NBA Finals in all four seasons of the James/Wade era.</p> <p>Of course, the bookended losses in two of those Finals to the Dallas Mavericks and San Antonio Spurs, respectively, soured that period a bit, but it doesn’t sully what in essence sparked this much-needed rise of player power in regards to free agency. Oh, and four years of some amazing basketball, too.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Milwaukee Bucks </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367159" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367159" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1065,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F984145730.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1065" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/984145730.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/984145730-768x511.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Allen Berezovsky/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Milwaukee Bucks history: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Oscar Robertson</h2> <p>When the Milwaukee Bucks acquired trend-setting point guard Oscar Robertson from the Cincinnati Royals (the future Sacramento Kings) in 1970, he wasn’t the same player that became the first to average a triple-double for an entire season.</p> <div class="embed embed-video"><iframe width="500" height="281" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.youtube.com/embed/H0-Iz6fQRAE?feature=oembed%22 frameborder="0" allow="accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture" allowfullscreen></iframe></div> <p>Don’t get it twisted, he was still a very good player, but age and the weight of carrying those mediocre Royals teams rendered him less than his former MVP-level self. Fortunately for him, the Bucks had a transcendent center to pair him up with: Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.</p> <p>Known originally as Lew Alcindor before changing his name in 1971, the UCLA standout was taken first overall by Milwaukee in 1969 and by the time Robertson joined him as his co-star, Abdul-Jabbar had already established himself as the game’s preeminent two-way big man.</p> <p>Abdul-Jabbar’s nimble footwork and length made him a terror on offense and defense, especially after his body filled out, and once Robertson — who, again, wasn’t what he once was, but could still finish and shoot over smaller guards and create for others — came aboard, the Bucks began bludgeoning their opponents.</p> <p>This culminated in a 1970-71 season in which Milwaukee’s offensive rating was 6.7 points above that season’s league average and their defensive rating sat 4.1 points below the mean en route to 66 wins (still a team record) and the franchise’s only NBA championship — in just their third season of existence.</p> <p>Though the Abdul-Jabbar/Robertson team-up (.232 combined WS/48) only lasted four seasons — Robertson retired in 73-74, two seasons before the Bucks traded Abdul-Jabbar to the Lakers — they led the greatest teams in Bucks history and brought the city a title. Not too bad.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Minnesota Timberwolves </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367201" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367201" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1066,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F1061131660.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1066" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1061131660.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/1061131660-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by David Sherman/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Minnesota Timberwolves history: Karl-Anthony Towns and Jimmy Butler</h2> <p>It’s a shame that the Jimmy Butler/Karl-Anthony Towns experiment ultimately blew up in the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/minnesota-timberwolves/">Minnesota Timberwolves</a>‘ face because when the two were on the court together, it produced encouraging results.</p> <p>Through his first two seasons, Towns gave T’Wolves fans plenty of reason to be excited about the future. Who wouldn’t be enthusiastic about a 7-foot center with a buttery post game and 3-point shooting range?</p> <p>Between Towns and fellow former number one pick Andrew Wiggins, the franchise felt that good times were around the corner, especially after they acquired Butler in what looked like a draft-day heist in 2017.</p> <p>Even as Wiggins wilted in his new, non-ball dominant role, Butler and Towns meshed well together.</p> <p>When the two shared the court — and they did so a lot due to head coach Tom Thibodeau’s lineups — Minnesota outscored opponents by 10.5 points per 100 possessions and looked like a quasi-legitimate title contender (at least nominally, as no one really thought they could beat the Rockets or the Warriors).</p> <p>Then, right on schedule, Thibs’ overreliance on his starters ultimately did Minnesota in. The team faltered down the stretch and needed to beat the Denver Nuggets on the final day of the season to sneak into the playoffs. The Houston Rockets rewarded them for that hard work with a five-game throttling in the first round, but the combined .214 WS/48 Butler and Towns produced indicated a strong partnership going forward, right?</p> <p>Wrong.</p> <p>Everything went to hell the next season, as the Wolves lowballed Butler in extension negotiations and he then proceeded to go scorched earth on his teammates and the organization in an effort to get traded (which worked, by the way). But hey, at least the Wolves snapped that 13-year playoff drought.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> New Orleans Pelicans </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367218" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367218" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1067,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F95550432.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1067" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/95550432.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/95550432-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Chris Graythen/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from New Orleans Pelicans: Chris Paul and David West</h2> <p>While it’s easy to place his lack of championships under an intense microscope, that blight on Chris Paul’s otherwise-stellar career obfuscates how much of a floor raiser he was during his prime.</p> <p>We all know how he and Blake Griffin turned the LA Clippers into a respectable franchise, but his time carrying the <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/western-conference/new-orleans-pelicans/">New Orleans Pelicans</a>, then known as the Hornets, often gets forgotten. But it was in New Orleans where Paul became the best point guard in the NBA, putting a mediocre team and head coach on his bulky shoulders while his lesser contemporaries collected championships on more competent teams.</p> <p>The second Paul put on that Hornets jersey, he transformed an 18-win laughingstock to a presentable 38-win outfit, as his court vision and control of the offense concealed some of the team’s many weaknesses.</p> <p>Despite the rest of the Hornets roster being as scintillating as a loaf of wet Wonder bread, Paul did have one All-Star to play off of: forward David West. West’s arrival to the Hornets predated Paul’s by a couple of years, so by the time the former Wake Forest Demon Deacon joined the team, the big man was already a fully-formed, second-tier, low post star.</p> <p>Paul and West spent a half-dozen seasons together in New Orleans, accumulating .184 WS/48 and keeping those mundane Hornets teams afloat. After they left, the Hornets/Pelicans moved on to wasting another generational talent, Anthony Davis, and were recently gifted another one in Zion Williamson. We’ll see how that works out for them.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> New York Knicks </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367236" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367236" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2579,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F538397578.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2579" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/538397578.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/538397578-768x619.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Bob Olen/New York Post Archives /(c) NYP Holdings, Inc. via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from New York Knicks: Walt Frazier and Willis Reed</h2> <p>If we widened the scope to off-court, current <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://hoopshabit.com/eastern-conference/new-york-knicks/">New York Knicks</a> owner James Dolan’s unbelievable hubris and stupidity would win this spot in a landslide, and for good reason. No matter which players, coaches, or front office personnel are under contract, none of them have overcome the boneheaded decisions Dolan has made since buying the team in 1999.</p> <p>It wasn’t always like this, though. There was a time when the Knicks were the NBA’s darlings and not a catastrophe that makes Stephen A. Smith go through the five stages of grief in a 5-minute span. For those glory days, we have to journey back to the 1970s.</p> <p>In a time before Dolan and needing (possibly) fixed lotteries to return to prominence, the Knicks were the class of the league during the early half of that decade, advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals five times, the NBA Finals three times and winning the title twice. Those teams featured plenty of strong contributors, but point guard Walt “Clyde” Frazier and center Willis Reed filled the starring roles on the Madison Square Garden stage.</p> <p>Frazier, who the Knicks took fifth overall in the 1967 draft, played with a style that was only matched by his off-court wardrobe. The future Knicks color analyst hustled and bustled on both ends of the court, pick-pocketing unsuspecting guards and delivering sweet dimes to his teammates.</p> <p>Mix that in with Reed fortressing the paint, strongarming defenders on the block and knocking down mid-range shots and you get a duo that combined for .194 WS/48 and led the Knicks to the franchise’s high point.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Oklahoma City Thunder </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367276" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367276" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2375,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F516431660.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2375" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/516431660.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/516431660-768x570.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Oklahoma City Thunder: Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook</h2> <p>*In 30 for 30 voice*: What if I told you that a relocated franchise once had three future MVP’s and not only failed to win a championship, but also lost all of them in a decade?</p> <p>In our lifetimes, we may never see another team strike as much draft gold as the Oklahoma City Thunder. OKC general manager Sam Presti unearthed plenty of other gems over the years, but the crown jewel of his tenure was Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook.</p> <p>Durant came first thanks to the second overall pick in 2007 and Westbrook followed in 2008 as the fourth overall pick (.198 combined WS/48). James Harden as the microwave offensive threat off the bench, the Thunder quickly went from a lottery team to contenders in a competitive Western Conference.</p> <p>In a time before Steph Curry’s rise, it was Durant who garnered the media adoration as the NBA’s premier 3-point shooter. His daddy long legs arms made him nearly impossible for any normal-sized wing to cover him and if teams put a big man on him, he simply skated past them for an easy two points.</p> <p>Westbrook wasn’t and still isn’t nearly as consistent of a shooter as his comrade, but his Road Runner speed, moon bounce hops, and insatiable competitive spirit more than compensated for that shortcoming. And it worked for a while. It even got them to the NBA Finals in 2012. So what happened?</p> <p>Basically, it was a combination of the infamous Harden trade and some ill-timed injuries that inhibited the Thunder during this era, with their blown 3-1 series lead to the Warriors in the 2016 Western Conference Finals serving as the cherry on top of a chalky, bittersweet sundae.</p> <p>Following that, Durant went to Golden State and now that Westbrook, the last vestige of this team’s former Seattle identity, is in Houston, all the Thunder have to show for this era is a bunch of wins and lingering questions of “What if?”.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Orlando Magic </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367329" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367329" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F635151990.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/635151990.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/635151990-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Barry Gossage/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Orlando Magic: Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway</h2> <p>Before the Thunder, no expansion/relocated team had as much draft luck as the Orlando Magic.</p> <p>Entering the league in 1989, the Magic’s first three seasons went as expected for a young franchise, but the team’s substandard performance eventually earned them the number one pick in the 1992 Draft Lottery.</p> <p>The Magic used that pick to select LSU behemoth Shaquille O’Neal, who singlehandedly pulled the team to .500 in his rookie season. Even though they barely missed the postseason, their 41-41 record was a cause for optimism.</p> <p>That feeling probably shot through the roof when Orlando won the number one pick <em>again</em> in 1993 despite having the lowest odds to win. However, the Magic didn’t take the consensus top pick in that draft, Chris Webber. Instead, they traded down to number three and snagged Memphis point guard Anfernee “Penny” Hardaway to pair with their superstar big man.</p> <p>From there, the Magic shot up the Eastern Conference standings, as Shaq and Penny led the Magic to three-straight 50-win seasons and an NBA Finals appearance. But the fun didn’t last.</p> <p>In the midst of all this winning, O’Neal felt underappreciated, but the fans, the media, and the team wanted to market Hardaway as the franchise star despite Shaq being the better player. Seeking to be “the man” elsewhere, O’Neal took his talents to L.A.</p> <p>Not long after, Hardaway’s health began to deteriorate. After playing in 82 games in two of his first three seasons, he never played in more than 60 during the rest of his time in Orlando, prompting the team to trade him to the Phoenix Suns for spare parts. All told, the three-year Saq and Penny run produced .199 WS/48, but it will always feel like they left a lot on the table.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Philadelphia 76ers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><p><img class="aligncenter size-full wp-image-189591" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2838,w_4302/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2016%2F03%2F515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory.jpg" alt="" width="4302" height="2838" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/03/515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory.jpg 4302w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/03/515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory-300x600.jpg 300w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/03/515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory-768x0.jpg 768w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/03/515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory-590x900.jpg 590w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2016/03/515175178-julius-erving-with-teammates-after-championship-victory-850x560.jpg 850w" sizes="(max-width: 4302px) 100vw, 4302px"></p> <h2>Best duo from Philadelphia 76ers: Julius Erving and Moses Malone</h2> <p>In terms of roster improvements, the Philadelphia 76ers benefitted the most from the ABA/NBA merger. When the Knicks basically forced the Nets to sell Julius Erving’s contract after imposing territorial fees, the Sixers were more than happy to open their wallets for the high-flying forward.</p> <p>Upon arrival, Erving was as advertised. His combination of speed and size turned most Sixers transition sequences into two points, but he also harbored some passing and post skills that are often overlooked because of the dunks.</p> <p>With Erving sending fans home with memories to share with their kids, the Sixers became contenders in a tough Eastern Conference that many older fans wax poetic about, but they couldn’t corral that elusive championship in what was at the time seven straight playoff appearances.</p> <p>That changed when Philly unloaded a first-round pick and role player Caldwell Jones to add then-two-time MVP Moses Malone to their ranks. His inaugural numbers with the Sixers in 1982-82 made the investment more than worthwhile: 24.5 points, a league-leading 15.3 boards, and a 25.1 Player Efficiency Rating (PER).</p> <p>Malone’s dominance in the post and Irving’s usual productivity contributed to the Sixers’ top-five ranking in offensive and defensive rating, their 65-17 record, and the sweep of the “Showtime” Lakers to win the NBA Finals.</p> <p>These two would play together for three more seasons — ending their time with .179 WS/48 — and even though they never won another title, Erving and Malone proved themselves well worth what the Sixers gave up for them.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Phoenix Suns </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367394" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367394" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_1088,w_1600/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F92698081.jpeg" alt="" width="1600" height="1088" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/92698081.jpeg 1600w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/92698081-768x522.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 1600px) 100vw, 1600px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:1600px;">(Photo by Christian Petersen/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Phoenix Suns: Steve Nash and Amar’e Stoudemire</h2> <p>Hey, dear reader, do you enjoy today’s brand of NBA basketball? Do you enjoy the heavy pick-and-roll usage and the uptick in 3-pointer? Does the floor spacing make for a more aesthetically-pleasing viewing experience? Well, thank the mid-2000s Phoenix Suns for bringing it to the mainstream.</p> <p>Once Mike D’Antoni became the full-time head coach in 2004, team executive Bryan Colangelo buttoned up his big-collared shirts and got to work building a roster around D’Antoni’s revolutionary offense.</p> <p>Ultimately, he didn’t have to look that far; he already had a couple of great building blocks with athletic forward Amar’e Stoudemire and ahead-of-his-time wing Shawn Marion on the roster, but they still needed a point guard to pilot this thing.</p> <p>Again, Colangelo didn’t have to work that hard to find one, as Mavericks star guard Steve Nash fell into their laps. With the pieces in place, the “Six Seconds or Less” Suns operated at a whiplash-inducing pace — certainly compared to the tortoise races fans were treated to for the last decade — and became a must-watch team almost overnight.</p> <p>In particular, Nash and Stoudemire thrived in D’Antoni’s system. The sets Phoenix ran unlocked Nash’s full array of talents which he used to feed the springy, rim rolling Stoudemire whenever defenses locked in too much on him or their other sharpshooters.</p> <p>Even as the Suns’ roster endured some turnover during the Nash/Stoudemire era, but those two — when healthy — remained the constants. In six seasons together, they combined for .200 WS/48, made 10 All-Star teams, and earned Nash back-to-back MVP trophies in 2004-04 and 2005-06. They never won a title, but their roles in D’Antoni’s offense paved the way for the modern game.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Portland Trail Blazers </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_428162" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-428162" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2170,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2021%2F05%2F1307859895.jpeg" alt="Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers" width="3200" height="2170" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1307859895.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2021/05/1307859895-768x521.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">Damian Lillard, CJ McCollum, Portland Trail Blazers (Photo by Steph Chambers/Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Portland Trail Blazers: Damian Lillard and CJ McCollum</h2> <p>When Portland Trail Blazers All-Star forward LaMarcus Aldridge signed with the San Antonio Spurs following the 2014-15 season, many wondered how the team would replace 23.8 points and 10.4 rebounds per game. Sure, emerging star guard Damian Lillard would mitigate some of that lost production, but the Blazers still needed more to make up for Aldridge’s (and Wesley Matthews’ and Nicolas Batum’s) absence.</p> <p>Enter Christian James McCollum.</p> <p>Like Lillard, McCollum was a small school standout — he played his college ball at Lehigh — that Portland used a lottery pick on (they took him with the 10th overall pick in the 2013 draft, a year after taking Lillard with the sixth pick). Unlike Lillard, McCollum didn’t immediately break out as a future star, averaging only 6.3 points and compiling a -1.5 Box Plus/Minus through his first two seasons.</p> <p>But once the Blazers tasked McCollum with filling in for the departed wings, he took a massive step forward in concert with his increase in playing time. With averages of 20.8 points and 4.3 assists and a .448/.417/.827 shooting line, not to mention his 1.3 BPM, McCollum took home Most Improved Player honors for the 2015-16 season.</p> <p>Combine those numbers with Lillard’s 25.1 points and 6.8 assists that year, and the Blazers did enough to return to the postseason despite winning seven fewer games. In fact, the Blazers have reached the playoffs every season since McCollum entered the starting lineup and joined Dame in the backcourt, even reaching the Western Conference Finals in 2019. In that span, the two have racked up a 1.2 (McCollum) and 6.1 BPM, respectively (not counting the 2020-21 season).</p> <p>Yes, both have shown holes in their games that have kept Portland from ascending to even greater heights — both are below-average defenders, and McCollum’s scarce trips to the charity stripe dull his value a bit — but who knows the depths this team would fall to without them.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Sacramento Kings </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367492" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367492" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F51822198.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51822198.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/51822198-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Rocky Widner/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Sacramento Kings: Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic</h2> <p>It’s fair to wonder if the Sacramento Kings have ever had a dynamic duo. Their two most prominent players from their days in Cincinnati and Kansas City, Nate Archibald and Oscar Robertson, barely played together. None of their teams over the last 15 years have been good enough to have players worthy of discussion on this list, outside of DeMarcus Cousins.</p> <p>That only leaves the golden age of the early-to-mid-2000s, but even those great teams were remembered more for their egalitarian responsibilities and unselfishness in carrying them out. So, it’s probably best to focus on the two guys who steered the ship the most: Chris Webber and Peja Stojakovic.</p> <p>With .163 combined WS/48 in six full seasons together, Stojakovic and Webber fit perfectly into then-Kings head coach Rick Adelman’s Four Corners offense, personifying the idiom of the whole being greater than the sum of its parts.</p> <p>But make no mistake, these two weren’t role players being schemed up. On the contrary, Adelman’s offense wouldn’t have gelled nearly as well without Stojakovic’s prolific 3-point shooting, Webber’s craftiness in the post, and both of their PhD-level passing skills. Do you really think some replacement-level player could come in and drop dimes <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WUH-wqU7dkM%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">like this</a>? <a href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mxMLH0K-CM4%22 target="_blank" rel="noopener">Or this</a>? Seriously, look at Stojakovic pass. Most <em>point guards </em>wouldn’t even <em>try </em>that pass, let alone execute it.</p> <p>Anyway, that six-year peak featured six consecutive playoff trips (out of eight straight overall under Adelman), including an appearance in the Western Conference Finals in 2002 where many Kings fans believe that the league and the referee’s screwed their beloved team over in favor of the in-state rival Lakers.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> San Antonio Spurs </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367518" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367518" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2125,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F458822428.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2125" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/458822428.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/458822428-768x510.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photos by D. Clarke Evans/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili</h2> <p>Like the Blazers, the San Antonio Spurs have successfully subverted theory of small-market teams operating at a disadvantage compared to their big-city counterparts, especially over the last 20 years.</p> <p>You can correlate some of that success to draft luck, but for a team as consistent as the Spurs, it takes the right mix of good fortune and shrewd player evaluation to keep this train running.</p> <p>Look at Tim Duncan and Manu Ginobili, for example. While both men are future Hall of Famers, their path to this team represents the hard work that goes into scouting and mining value that other organizations don’t see and the flukiness of being in the right place at the right time.</p> <p>Duncan’s route to San Antonio fulls under fate. The Wake Forest star was the consensus number one overall pick in 1997. The David Robinson-led Spurs, being a perennial playoff team, ostensibly had no chance of landing the acclaimed big man, but when Robinson missed the entire 1996-97 season, the Spurs fell to 20-62 and that blip of inadequacy netted them “The Admiral’s” heir apparent.</p> <p>Ginobili sits on the other end of the scale. The Spurs drafted him a couple of years after Duncan with the 57th overall pick. In one of the earliest examples of “drafting and stashing”, Ginobili declined a rookie deal with the Spurs and played in Italy for three more years before coming over in 2002.</p> <p>The rest was history: Duncan became one of the greatest big men in the sport’s history, Ginobili became one of the best international NBA players of all-time, they finished with .179 combined WS/48, and — along with fellow future HOFer Tony Parker, won four NBA titles together.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Toronto Raptors </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367539" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367539" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F947938690.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/947938690.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/947938690-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Mark Blinch/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Toronto Raptors: DeMar DeRozan and Kyle Lowry</h2> <p>Separately, Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan are solid star players. Sure, they have glaring deficiencies — Lowry’s meekness in critical situations and DeRozan’s tepid-at-best 3-point shooting, for starters — but both men are skilled enough to be contributors on almost every NBA team.</p> <p>But with the Toronto Raptors, these two friends meant more to the franchise than that. Their play elevated Toronto into the national conversation. They’re also a big reason why the Raptors have an NBA Finals win to their name.</p> <p>First, the backstory. DeRozan came first, getting drafted ninth overall in the 2009 draft. The young wing from USC was more of a project than a finished product, but with Chris Bosh entrenched as the franchise player, the team had some time to mold a discernable NBA skillset out of his RAW athleticism.</p> <p>Once Bosh bolted for South Beach, the team went through some lean years — which included them taking a chance on some fool’s gold named Rudy Gay — but in the interim, GM Bryan Colangelo swung an at-the-time innocuous deal to get cantankerous point guard Lowry from the Rockets.</p> <p>Soon after, former Nuggets executive Masai Ujiri replaced Colangelo and proceeded to clean house. One of his first orders of business was trading Gay to Sacramento so he can ban stat sheets from that locker room instead of Toronto’s. But before he could do the same to Lowry, something odd happened: the Raptors started winning!</p> <p>DeRozan and Lowry spent the next six years forging a brotherhood on and off the court, as their .158 combined WS/48 led to six straight five straight postseason appearances and the pleasure of losing to LeBron James in the Eastern Conference Finals in 2016.</p> <p>Unfortunately, it was this failure to beat James’ Cavs in the playoffs that resulted in this duo’s breakup, as the Raptors upgraded to the jovial Kawhi Leonard and, well, we know what happened next.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Utah Jazz </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367544" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367544" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F850601434.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/850601434.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/850601434-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Sam Forencich/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Utah Jazz: Karl Malone and John Stockton</h2> <p>Few two players have been more emblematic of a franchise the way Karl Malone and John Stockton are. If you peruse the Utah Jazz’s team records on Basketball-Reference or their official site, you’re likely to find Malone and/or Stockton at or near the top of most of those lists. Part of that is because they played for so long, but you’d be mistaken to cast them off as mere compilers, as their combined .209 WS/48 illustrates.</p> <p>Though Stockton was far more conservative of a passer and shooter than his gaudy totals suggest, his speed and surprisingly quick first step made him a handful to deal with in transition and as a defender, though the “Jekyll and Hyde” dynamic to his game — as Ben Taylor puts it for Backpicks — was rooted in his slight stature.</p> <blockquote><p>This dichotomy stemmed from Stock’s diminutive stature; he was listed at 6-foot-1, but played even smaller. He was bothered by larger defenders and struggled among the trees, both with his vision and scoring. He was even hesitant to enter the lane at times because he had a hard time scoring or passing when in there.</p></blockquote> <p>Of course, it helped to have a low post savant like Malone around to run pick and rolls with. “The Mailman” joined the team a year after Stockton — Malone was the 13th overall pick in 1985, Stockton was part of the famed 1984 class — but that granular difference had no effect on their cohesion.</p> <p>With Malone and Stockton as the stars, Utah made the playoffs for 18 straight years with two NBA Finals appearances.</p> <div class="next-slide slider"> <a class="next-slide-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="next-slide-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"#"> <span class="title">Next:</span> Washington Wizards </a> </div><!—pageview_candidate—><hr id="pagebreak"><div id="attachment_367577" class="wp-caption aligncenter"> <img class="size-full wp-image-367577" src=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"https://images2.minutemediacdn.com/image/fetch/c_fill,g_auto,f_auto,h_2133,w_3200/http%3A%2F%2Fhoopshabit.com%2Fwp-content%2Fuploads%2Fgetty-images%2F2018%2F08%2F88023460.jpeg" alt="" width="3200" height="2133" srcset="https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/88023460.jpeg 3200w, https://hoopshabit.com/wp-content/uploads/getty-images/2018/08/88023460-768x512.jpeg 768w" sizes="(max-width: 3200px) 100vw, 3200px"><div class="fs-center-img"> <p class="wp-caption-text" style="width:3200px;">(Photo by Dick Raphael/NBAE via Getty Images)</p> </div> </div> <h2>Best duo from Washington Wizards: Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld</h2> <p>In terms of futility, the Washington Wizards should thank franchises like the Kings, Knicks, and Clippers for existing, as those teams have effectively provided a cushion that has kept Washington from being the NBA’s resident punchline, though that hasn’t been for a lack of trying on the Wizards’ part.</p> <p>The Wizards are the sort of team that enters a draft without a general manager and it’s seen as an improvement over the last guy who had the job. This is a team that hasn’t won more than 50 games since gas cost less than a dollar. Since then, no one — not Gilbert Arenas, Moses Malone, Chris Webber, Bernard King, John Wall, not even Michael Jordan — has changed that.</p> <p>Unlike all of those talented players, there was one duo that led the Wizards, know as the Bullets then, to a championship: big men Wes Unseld and Elvin Hayes (.137 combined WS/48). Between Unseld — who is one of only two players to win Rookie of the Year and MVP in the same season — and Hayes, the Bullets sat either near or at the top of the defensive rating rankings during their nine-year run in Washington.</p> <p>Neither man enthralled audiences with their offense — though Hayes did average 21.3 points per game as a Bullet — but they basically owned the boards (a combined 26.7 rpg) and forged an impenetrable wall under the rim despite both being a bit undersized.</p> <div class="fs-shortcode" data-type="StoryLink" data-theme="dark" data-text="30 greatest team rivalries in team history" data-url="http://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/05/30-greatest-nba-team-rivalries-league-history/" data-call-to-action="Next"> <div class="story-link-next"> <a class="story-link-next-btn" style="background:#bb2c32" data-track="shortcode" data-track-action="story-link-next-shortcode" href=https://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/26/nba-best-player-duo-from-each-franchise-history/"http://hoopshabit.com/2019/08/05/30-greatest-nba-team-rivalries-league-history/"> <span class="call_to_action">Next:</span> 30 greatest team rivalries in team history </a> </div> </div> <p>With those two keeping the scores low enough for the often-mediocre Bullets offense to keep up, the Wizards made the playoffs every season between 1972-73 and 1979-80, culminating in a championship win over the Seattle SuperSonics.</p><!—pageview_candidate—>">

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NBA: Who is the best duo from each franchise’s history

The NBA’s history is littered with dynamic duos who led their teams to both regular season and playoff success. These are the best for each team.

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