Greatest NBA duos of all time

Larry Bird and Kevin McHale were the driving forces that led the Boston Celtics to three championships in the 1980s. With Bird, one of the NBA’s 10 greatest players, scoring at will on offense, and McHale, a dominant two-way player in his own right, the Celtics were a threat to win it all every year. If it hadn’t before for a guy named Magic Johnson, Bird and McHale would have likely led the Celtics on a championship run similar to the teams’ earlier one in the late 1950s and '60s.

Bill Russell and Bob Cousy were the NBA’s original dynamic duo. From 1956 to 1963, the two helped define what playing basketball in the NBA meant. With the point guard Cousy leading the Celtics on offense as their floor general and Russell at center playing perfect defense and rebounding everything in sight, the Celtics won six NBA titles with the pair as teammates.

No dynamic duo terrorized the NBA quite like Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. With Jordan, the greatest basketball player of all time, and Pippen, a top 50 player in his own right, the Bulls won six championships over an eight-year period. Truth be told, if Jordan had not retired in 1993 to pursue baseball for a year, the Bulls could have very well won eight straight titles with Jordan and Pippen at the helm.

Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars formed perhaps the greatest backcourt of the 20th century. From 1985 to 1994, the pair destroyed opposing teams with a rare combination of shooting, ability to get the basket and defense. Thomas and Dumars led the “Bad Boys” Detroit Pistons teams to back-to-back NBA titles in 1989 and 1990.

Despite the fact that neither of the two are even 30 years old yet, it’s hardly premature to label Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson as one of the NBA’s greatest duos. “The Splash Brothers” are already the best shooting backcourt in NBA history and part of a Warriors team that just orchestrated a 28-game winning streak. Curry and Thompson led the Warriors to the first of what will likely be multiple NBA titles earlier in 2015.

Although they didn’t link up until later in their NBA careers, Hakeem Olajuwon and Clyde Drexler formed one of college basketball’s most devastating duos at the University of Houston in the 1980s. Unlike their time in college, however, playing together in the NBA, the two Hall of Famers won an NBA title in 1995 together with the Houston Rockets.

The leaders of “Lob City,” Chris Paul and Blake Griffin have revitalized the Clippers franchise over the past few years. With Paul’s brilliant passing and Griffin’s ability to get his head above the rim, the pair has turned the Clippers into one of the most entertaining teams in the NBA. Now if only they can find a way to get past the second round of the playoffs …

After failing to bring the Lakers back to the Promised Land alone, Kobe Bryant finally found the running mate he needed in Pau Gasol when Los Angeles acquired him in 2008. With Pau by his side, Kobe and the Lakers made it to three straight NBA Finals, winning two of them.

Easily two of the 10 greatest players ever, Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar led the Lakers to five NBA championships during the 1980s. With Magic leading the Lakers' attack on offense and Kareem holding down the paint on defense, the two Hall of Famers combined to be one of the NBA's most dominant duos ever.

It seems almost farcical that Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant only won three championships during their time together with the Lakers. At their peak, Shaq and Kobe gave the Lakers two of the five best players in basketball, and if their egos had not clashed, the two could have easily brought Los Angeles several more titles a little more than a decade ago.

Although they never won an NBA title together, Jerry West and Elgin Baylor formed one of the NBA’s original dynamic duos with the Lakers in the 1960s and '70s. West and Baylor combined for 25 All-Star appearances over their careers and led the Lakers to the NBA Finals year after year. The two Hall of Fame players would also go on to have successful careers working in the  front offices of several NBA teams.

Two all-time greats, Wilt Chamberlain and Jerry West only played together for five seasons in Los Angeles, but they were five awesome years. During that span, Chamberlain and West led the the Lakers to four NBA Finals, winning one of them, and even went on an NBA record 33-game winning streak in the 1971-72 season.

After spurning Cleveland for Miami in 2010, LeBron James finally found the superstar teammate he so earnestly wanted in Dwyane Wade. Forming a dynamic one-two punch with Wade, James and Heat made it to the NBA Finals during each of the four years he played in Miami, winning two of them. Although Chris Bosh’s contributions to those teams can’t be ignored, James and Wade were the engines the drove the Heat to those two championships.

Both playing in their prime for the Heat, it’s hard to believe that Miami never made it to an NBA Finals with Alonzo Mourning and Tim Hardaway on the court. With Mourning’s superb defense around the basket,and Hardaway’s ability to score at will, the Heat made several deep playoff runs in the late 1990s. At the very least, the Mourning-Hardaway Heat teams will be remembered for their fierce playoff rivalry with the New York Knicks.

From 2004 to 2007, Dwyane Wade and Shaquille O’Neal were the NBA’s preeminent dynamic duo. Shaq dominated all aspects of the game around the basket, while D-Wade established himself as one of the best all-around players in the game. The two brought the Miami Heat its first NBA title in 2006 with a Finals victory over the Dallas Mavericks.

After failing to achieve much postseason success on his own, it took just one year for Oscar Robertson- and the Lew Alcindor-led Milwaukee Bucks to win an NBA title in 1971. Although Robertson was near the end of his career, with Alcindor taking charge, the two made the Bucks a force to be reckoned with.

From 1967 to 1974, the duo of Walt Frazier and Willis Read led the New York Knicks to two championships and several other deep playoff runs. Frazier was a point guard who could pass, score and defend, while Willis was a center who could, well, pass, score and defend. Frazier and Reed are easily the Knicks' greatest duo in franchise history, although Kristaps Porzingis might help to alter that in the future.

Considering just how talented to the two are, it seems a little crazy that Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook haven’t yet won an NBA title. Durant is essentially a modern-day Larry Bird, while Westbrook possesses a level of athleticism the NBA has never seen before. The two came close to winning it all in 2011, but injuries have kept them from reaching their potential in recent years. Regardless, the two are an incredible duo.

The Orlando Magic struck gold when it won the NBA lottery two times in a row in the early 1990s. Orlando's good fortune brought them Shaquille O’Neal and Penny Hardaway, who combined to make one of the most talented and athletic duos the NBA has ever seen. As fate would have it, however, Shaq and Penny only played together for four seasons, as O’Neal left the Magic for the Lakers via free agency in 1996. If Shaq had stayed in Orlando, the pair likely would have won several titles.

In their first season together in Philadelphia in 1883, Julius Erving and Moses Malone took the 76ers to the Promised Land, winning an NBA championship. Two of basketball’s greatest on their own, there’s no telling how much they could have accomplished if they had just come together a little sooner. Erving and Malone only played together for four seasons but still formed one of the most feared tandems in NBA history.

Although they now seem to be a footnote in the memory of the NBA fans, Mike D’Antoni’s Phoenix Suns, led by the pick-and-roll combination of Steve Nash and Amare Stoudemire, altered the landscape of the NBA. Taking advantage of spacing and great three-point shooting, Nash and Stoudemire terrorized defenders with a pick-and-roll that was impossible to defend at times. Nash won two MVPs during his time in Phoenix.

Since becoming teammates in 2001, Tim Duncan and Tony Parker have won four NBA championships, appeared in five NBA Finals and have never missed the playoffs. When it comes to long-term success in the NBA, it’s hard to find a duo over the past 20 years who have done more than Parker and Duncan. The pair has also combined for 18 All-Star appearances and counting.

Aptly nicknamed “The Twin Towers,” Tim Duncan and David Robinson combined to make one of the most intimidating frontcourts in NBA history. The seven footers led the Spurs to NBA titles in 1999 and 2003 and made it impossible for opponents to score in the paint.

Back when the city of Seattle still had an NBA team, Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp nearly brought the Pacific Northwest an NBA title in 1996. With Payton’s incredible defense and Kemp’s high-flying act, opposing coaches had fits trying to figure out how to get the best of Seattle. “The Glove” and “Reign Man” made George Karl’s Seattle SuperSonics one of the most feared teams in the Western Conference in 1990s.

From 1985 to 2003, John Stockton and Karl Malone were one of the NBA’s most lethal duos. During their time together with the Utah Jazz, the pair never missed a single postseason, and the two combined for 24 All-Star game appearances. If it weren’t for Michael Jordan, Stockton and Malone would likely have two rings as well.