10. Julius Erving and Moses Malone, Philadelphia 76ers- "Fo', Fo', Fo'" Uttered MVP Moses Malone when asked how the 65-17 Sixers would fare in the 1983 play-offs. Malone nearly kept his word, completing a 12-1 run in the play-offs by blanking Magic Johnson and the Lakers in the Finals.
9. Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, Detroit Pistons- Arguably the greatest back-court of all time. Thomas and Dumars lead the "Bad Boy" Pistons to five straight Eastern Conference Finals appearances, 3 Finals appearances, and back-to-back championships in 89 and 90. Both players went from the court to the office after their respective careers were finished. Dumars went on to be one of the best executives in the NBA. The same cannot be said for Thomas.
8. Lew Alcindor and Oscar Robinson- Before he was Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Alcindor teamed up with veteran Oscar Robertson making two Finals appearances and winning one championship in 71' with a league best 66 wins and a 12-2 record in the play-offs.
7. Tim Duncan and David Robinson, San Antonio Spurs- Robinson's injury in 1997 was a blessing in disguise as the Spurs were able to draft Duncan 1st overall and form the Twin Towers. With Duncan and Robinson the Spurs won 2 titles and never missed the play-offs.
6. Karl Malone and John Stockton, Utah Jazz- Stockton the NBA's all-time leader in assists and steals, and Malone who ranks second in scoring played 18 seasons together. Their pick and roll was one of the most lethal plays in league history. They are the only two players on this list to never win a title, but they did have to play a tandem ranked a little higher on this list, twice.
5. Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, Boston Celtics- Two parts of the greatest front-court in NBA history. Bird and McHale won 3 titles with 5 Finals appearances and appeared in the Eastern Conference Finals seven times.
4. Bill Russell and Bob Cousy, Boston Celtics- The first dynamic duo in NBA history. Russell and Cousy dominated a young NBA, winning 6 titles together, their last five were consecutive.
3. Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant- If it wasn't for their massive ego's they probably could have won about 5 or 6 titles together and Kobe Bryant would be trying to close in on Bill Russel right now. But they were still damn good. They were the two best players in the league and dominated the early 2000s with a 3-peat and 4 Finals appearances. During the 2001 season they each averaged 28ppg and later that year completed the most dominant post season run in league history (15-1).
2. Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Los Angeles Lakers- This union saw immediate success winning the NBA title their very first season together, Magic's rookie season. They won a total of 5 NBA titles with 8 Finals appearances during the 80's.
1. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Chicago Bulls- The best duo in the history of anything. Jordan and Pippen ruled the 90's leading the Bulls to two 3-peats, 6 titles and a 6-0 record in the Finals vs. five different opponents. The first season of their second 3-peat they lead Chicago to the best record in NBA history (72-10)
Great list. I actually agree with it fully but despite the dominance of the 90's Bulls one could argue for Magic and Jabbar are a very close second and possibly even 1. To lead a team to 8 finals appearances in one decade is outrageous when you think about it especially doing it in the same decade as the Bird Celtics and the Thomas Pistons. If they won just one more title out of those 8 attempts they most likely would have to be the best duo in history. It is also very impressive and shows how great Jabbar's whole career was that he is on this list twice with two different teams and partners.
ReplyDeleteWell, the fact that they played in the same era as Bird and Thomas can't be taken into account when we are talking just Finals appearances because they didn't have to play them to make it there. However, they did beat three duos on this list to win 4 of their 5 titles and beat 1/2 of the #10 duo to win their first. So I agree there is a strong argument that can be made for them as the best tandem because it was overall a more competitive decade than the 90's. But as much as I hate what-if's we all know that if Jordan would have played a the full '94 and '95 seasons and didn't retire prematurely in '98 they would have nearly swept the decade with the exception of the Pistons title in '90
ReplyDeleteThat is very true, even knowing the stats before, I never truly realized how close they were to Jordan and Pippen in terms of the best duo. In all reality one or two games from one more of those 3 finals losses if won could have given them another title and a great debate especially since Jordan did unfortunately retire and allow Hakeem and Houston get two rings. Out of curiosity from a baseball guy to a basketball man what is your take on Jordan playing in the minors? Seems those two sides have different opinions generally and I kinda eased my stance on it after watching the 30 for 30 recently.
ReplyDeleteI didn't see the 30 for 30 but I've put some thought into this before. It used to really bother me. To walk away from being the greatest in the game to play in the minors seemed so asinine to me. However I've had a change of perspective.
ReplyDeleteIt terms of Jordan's legacy, while another two championships, the probability of two more scoring titles and maybe another MVP or two would have helped his legacy, it wasn't necessary. He was that good. It would have certainly squashed the Kobe-Jordan debate that's been sparked since the 2010 Finals, but that debate isn't even close to begin with. Staying actually may have hurt his public appeal. Eight straight titles and perhaps nine or 10 if he stayed after '98 without allowing other superstars to build their legacy may have made him the NBA's greatest villain rather than it's most storied hero.
Although this may sound like blasphemy, It could have probably been better for basketball. It allowed a small window of opportunity for other legends to validate their careers. Although the only players that truly seized this opportunity were David Robinson (Winning an MVP) Hakeem Olajuwon (MVP, 2 Championships), and Clyde Drexler (winning a ring with Olajuwon). It also allowed an opportunity for Shaquille O'Neal to get his feet wet in the '95 Finals and his embarrassment at the hands of Olajuwon inspired his historic 2000 Finals performance.
Michael Jordan is and always will be my favorite athlete. Personally I would have rather him played through his first retirement, but his absence was probably for the best.
I was not expecting that to be your thoughts but those are my exact sentiments as well. If Hakeem had not won those 2 rings he most likely would be thought like Ewing not in terms of best big men ever right or wrong. Drexler as you mentioned also got that ring to get rid of negative talk on him despite him clearly jumping on a bandwagon at the time. It was unfortunate Charles chose to join them just as Jordan returned to the NBA and missed a chance to the same. I thought the 30 for 30 was descent compared to the others and you got to get insight from media members on both sides at the time as well as from his minor league manager and future curse breaking two time world champion Terry Francona. I never had thought about this before but hitting .210, recording 50 rbi, and snagging 30 stolen bags on a very good AA team actually could also help his cred as one of the best athletes ever not just basketball players. That may not sound like great stats but he had not picked up a bat since high school before 94 and baseball is perhaps one of the toughest sports to perfect. Jordan also was a pitcher when he played before that season and we all know pitchers don't work on anything else. His great work ethic there was discussed and it was even said that if he kept at it for another few years he may have actually made it to the big leagues one day. Based on how well he did relatively speaking right away I seem to agree. The average baseball player takes years of minor league success before getting called up or to even do as well as he did in just one summer. All the jokes etc on his baseball attempt and so called failure truly are not valid or fair if you really think about it.
ReplyDeleteMarcus, you are 100% correct. Couldn't agree with you more. The debate between Michael and Kobe is moot; Michael has done much more in a shorter period of time than Kobe. Hell, Kobe wasn't even the Finals MVP of his first three titles. I'm not even going to get started with stats. I wish I was spoiled enough to see eight straight championships dating from 1991-1998. However, the fact that MJ could win another three-peat after a two year retirement (playing baseball, a truly challenging sport) was truly astonishing and established his amazing legacy.
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