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LeBron James and Anthony Davis are the premier duo of today's NBA. The pair led the LA Lakers to the 2020 NBA title and have forced other superstars to team up to improve their chances of winning. Throughout NBA history, we have seen many franchises building their teams around at least two superstars.
5 greatest dynamic duos in NBA history
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 as we saw with the two MVPs on the Houston Rockets last year.
Most of the best duos in the history of the association have lifted the Larry O'Brien trophy multiple times. Can LeBron James and Anthony Davis join that elite group in 2021? They have a great chance.
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On that note, let us take a look at the five greatest duos in NBA history.
#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.
Seeing LeBron James alongside Wade was fun. The pair found success during their tenure with the Miami Heat. Wade already had an NBA title and a Finals MVP award (won in 2006 with Shaquille O'Neal) 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.
In their four seasons together, James won two regular-season MVPs. The King averaged 27 points, eight rebounds, and seven assists per game and shot an incredible 54% from the field.
Wade played a different role in the team while playing with James, but his numbers were great. He averaged 22/5/5 and made 51% of his field goals during their four-year stretch together.
In the 2017-18 season, they played together at Cleveland but were in different stages of their careers.
#4 Larry Bird and Kevin McHale
Larry Bird and Kevin McHale played 13 years each for the Boston Celtics. Bird came into the league in 1979, while McHale followed in 1980.
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.
Alongside Robert Parish, they formed the most successful trio in NBA history (in terms of wins), before Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginóbili broke the record in 2015.
McHale averaged 18 points and seven rebounds per game in his career. He also made 55% of his shots. When he was a regular starter, he averaged 23 points, nine rebounds and made 58% of his field goals.
On the other hand, Bird became a two-time Finals MVP who could dominate a basketball game in every aspect. He averaged 24 points, 10 rebounds, six assists, and two steals per game in his career. Bird retired with 50/38/89 shooting splits.
#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 their first three years together, the duo made one appearance in the Western Conference Finals (1998). Phil Jackson was chosen to lead the team at the start of the 1999-00 NBA season, and they dominated.
O'Neal won regular-season MVP in 2000, and the team made it to the NBA Finals after a great comeback in game seven of the WCF against the Portland Trail Blazers.
O'Neal and Bryant dominated the Indiana Pacers in the 2000 NBA Finals. Then, as Bryant continued to get better, the Lakers swept through the West in 2001. They won the 2001 NBA championship with a 15-1 record in the NBA Playoffs (a record until 2017).
The three-peat was completed after the LA Lakers swept the New Jersey Nets in the 2002 NBA Finals.
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.
In the deciding series, Abdul-Jabbar averaged 33 points and 14 rebounds through the first five games. However, an ankle sprain in game five forced him to miss game six at Philadelphia.
Johnson played center in the sixth game and dominated the Philadelphia 76ers. He scored 42 points, grabbed 15 rebounds, and assisted seven times to guide the LA Lakers to their first title since 1972. Johnson was named Finals MVP.
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.
Pippen arrived in Chicago in 1987. In Pippen's first three years, the Bulls fell to the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons each time in the NBA Playoffs.
However, once the Bulls found their stride under Phil Jackson (who started coaching the team in 1989), they were unstoppable.
Jordan was leading the team in most aspects, as a leader and as the best player. Pippen, on the other hand, was a great fit with Jordan because he was a stunning "two-way" player and was efficient.
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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