Best NBA duo of all time
The greatest duos in NBA history were constructed with two players who could play together and were a great fit. Putting two great players in the same team has not always been a successful idea.
5. LeBron James and Dwyane Wade
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade joined forces after the 2010 NBA Finals. The pair, alongside Chris Bosh, created the Big Three era at Miami.
The pair found success during their tenure with the Miami Heat. Wade already had an NBA title and a Finals MVP award while James was looking to find his first ring.
In their four years at Miami, the pair helped the team reach four consecutive NBA Finals appearances. They fell to the Dallas Mavericks in six games in 2011 but won back to back championships in 2012 and 2013.
Wade is often credited with showing James the way to lead a team to an NBA title. On the other hand, James was the team’s driving force and won the Finals MVP award in their two title runs.
4. Larry Bird and Kevin McHale
In their first year together, both were considered power forwards, and McHale came off the bench. The Celtics won the NBA title in McHale’s rookie year.
The pair went on to win two more NBA championships in 1984 and 1986. Bird won three consecutive MVP awards between 1984 and 1986, while McHale won two Sixth Man of the Year awards in that period.
3. Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant
Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant arrived in LA together in 1996. Shaq was coming from Orlando while Bryant was a rookie.
Bryant came to the NBA from high school, so he needed some time to adapt. Once Bryant developed into a force in the NBA, the pair became unstoppable.
In eight years, Shaq and Kobe won three championships and played in four NBA Finals. O’Neal was named Finals MVP three times and won the MVP in 2000.
2. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar
When Magic Johnson was drafted in 1979, his new teammate Kareem Abdul-Jabbar already had five MVPs.
The LA Lakers built a duo that would change the history of the 1980s. In their first year, Abdul-Jabbar won his sixth NBA MVP, and the team made it to the NBA Finals.
The duo went on to dominate the Western Conference in the 1980s. They played in eight NBA Finals and won five championships. They won back-to-back titles in 1987 and 1988, becoming the first team to repeat since 1969 (Boston Celtics).
Johnson won three Finals MVP during their time together, while Abdul-Jabbar won one.
1 Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen
Michael Jordan entered the league in 1984 and rapidly became one of the best players in the NBA. However, he could not find team success until he had another All-Star in his squad.
The Bulls won three consecutive championships between 1991 and 1993, with Jordan winning Finals MVP each time. They became the first team to win three straight titles since the Boston Celtics won eight straight between 1959 and 1966.
Jordan retired for more than one-and-a-half years after 1993. He returned to the NBA in 1995. Though they fell in the 1995 NBA Playoffs to the Orlando Magic, the Bulls dominated again from 1996 to 1998. In their second three-peat, Jordan won Finals MVP each year.
In nine full seasons together, they won six NBA championships.
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