The Greatest One-Two Punches in NBA History

[EllEffEll]

For $20 you get Chachi, but $40 gets you Fonzie

[jlauber]

Jerry West and Wilt Chamberlain.

What could have been...

The 69-70 Lakers had a new coach, Joe Mullaney, who trashed the previous coach's offensive strategy (having Wilt play a high post so that Baylor could shot jack)...

... and in the first nine games of that season, West was averaging 30.8 ppg, while Chamberlain was leading the league at 32.2 ppg (and on nearly .600 shooting.) BTW, Baylor was averaging 19.9 ppg in those nine games. Collectively, those three were averaging 83 ppg.

Unfortunately, Wilt tore his knee up in the ninth game, and was never the same after that.

[Legends66NBA7]

Yeah, a lot of names already mentioned...

If they stayed together, they certinaly could have been one of the greatest duo's:

[Clutch]

Don't deny it.

this

[AngelEyes]

Yeah, a lot of names already mentioned...

If they stayed together, they certinaly could have been one of the greatest duo's:

For it to work T-Mac would've had to of been the Alpha.

[ShaqAttack3234]

The way Shaq and Kobe played in the 2001 playoffs is the gold standard for duos, imo. Talk about pick your poison. If you didn't double Shaq aggressively, you were pretty much conceding 35-40 points and 15-20 rebounds while your frontline was in foul trouble. And then you had Kobe on the perimeter who was attacking the basket as aggressively as he has in his career while excelling as the team's facilitator. He was fitting his offense perfectly into the team, while also adding quite a few of his points in transition and semi-transition, which also made the duo work better with Shaq being the focal point of the halfcourt offense. And when Kobe did look to score in the halfcourt, he'd blow by his man and force the help to come over or else he'd finish over anyone(for proof of this watch the WCF when the twin towers didn't deter him), but if they did, there was also Shaq in the paint and Kobe would find him. You had Shaq averaging 30+/15+/3+ and Kobe averaging 29+/7+/6+. All on a 15-1 team that was embarrassing talented teams. That's 60/23/9 between just 2 players vs some very good defensive teams(Spurs and Sixers were both top 5). They were the 2 best offensive players in the game, Shaq was back to playing his 2000 level defense, and Kobe was arguably the best perimeter defender at the time. That may be the season when you can make the best case that a team had the 2 best players in the game.

Jordan and Pippen were the greatest perimeter duo. Arguably the 2 best perimeter defenders of all time, and what made the duo work so well was that there was arguably the greatest scorer ever, but he was playing alongside Pippen who became the team's primary facilitator, which allowed Jordan to play off the ball more, which made his scoring work better with the team, imo and also made it so he didn't have to average 35 while setting everyone up 24/7. They were deadly in transition, and it was even better that their positions were pretty much interchangeable with Pippen being the de-facto point guard, and Jordan actually being more of the forward in the team's offense. They were probably at their best as a duo in '96. Pippen had improved his overall game and had become an effective post player, a smarter defender and was probably helped by the year and a half where he was his team's leader. Jordan also hadn't fallen off that much. He had lost a bit athletically, but it didn't hurt him all that much since he had already shot a lot of jumpers by the time Phil took over, and was still athletic anyway. But while he had proven capable of scoring in the post whenever the match up presented itself in the early 90's, he did even more work down there second 3peat and was flat out unguardable. The biggest difference between '96 Jordan and '90-'93 Jordan was that he had lost some stamina which made it so he couldn't use the same energy at both ends as frequently. Obviously, Jordan won MVP by a landslide, and Pippen was also getting some MVP talk, and was probably playing the best basketball of his career in the first half before that ankle injury.

But a lot of duos deserve to be mentioned. Bird and McHale were amazing from '86-'88. And Bird and Parish were a formidable pick and roll duo themselves for that matter. But aside from Shaq/Kobe, has any duo been better than Bird and McHale in the '86 playoffs? Bird averaged 26/9/8, 52 FG%/62 TS% and McHale averaged 25/9/3, 58 FG%/64 TS%. But those numbers don't begin to explain how good Bird was as far as his passing or taking over games from his masterful all around finals to some incredible individual displays during the Hawks series. McHale also looked as unstoppable as a post scorer can and showed his defensive versatility by guarding Nique in the semifinals. They were also extremely consistent game by game during that run.

Obviously Magic and Kareem as well, though it's a shame their primes didn't overlap. Kareem was at the tail end of his prime when Magic entered the league while Kareem was 39-40 by the time Magic really hit his prime, but that duo worked really well with Magic leading the transition game and Kareem being the focal point of their halfcourt offense and the best post player for most of that era.

Kareem and Oscar seemed very effective in '71, I wish more footage was available, but they led a dominant team and despite being in his 2nd year, Kareem was most likely the best player in the game. Oscar was past his prime, but Kareem talks a lot about how effective Oscar still was in his book "Giant Steps" and how good he was at getting Kareem the ball in good position. From the limited footage available(regular season game vs Knicks and 2nd half of game 4 of the finals), you can see how good he was at finding his teammates as well as his mid-range shot and strength backing guards down.

As far as big man duos, Duncan and Robinson their first 3-4 years together would be hard to top. They may have been the greatest defensive duo of all time. Both were good passers and elite shot blockers/interior defenders who could face up and shoot or drive. Duncan was also one of the best back to the basket players and probably more comfortable being the man putting Robinson in a role where he could excel despite the fact that Robinson himself was still a 20/10 caliber player as late as 2000, while Duncan entered the league very polished and poised. Tim may have been as close to his prime level as a rookie/second year player as any great player aside from maybe Kareem.

Wilt and Hal Greer were probably one of the best as well, particularly in '67. Lebron and Wade are also an unusual duo. Like Shaq and Kobe, you they're one of 2 cases that I can think of where a team had arguably the top 2 players in the game. They may not be a natural fit alongside each other, but I think they're more comfortable with each other this season, especially since they're running more. But we haven't been able to see it as much with Wade's early injuries.

Malone and Stockton are another obvious one due to how well their games fit together. Both made the other one better more than any other great duo I can think of.

Unfortunately, Wilt tore his knee up in the ninth game, and was never the same after that.

True, but he did have a remarkable comeback from that injury and had a phenomenal season in '72 alongside West. From what I've read, that may have been his greatest defensive season, and while I can't have the same perspective on that season, it seems like he was probably the second best player in the league that year, while West could've been top 3 despite his shooting slump during the playoffs. Obviously, we know that they were part of one of the all-time great teams.

[jlauber]

The way Shaq and Kobe played in the 2001 playoffs is the gold standard for duos, imo. Talk about pick your poison. If you didn't double Shaq aggressively, you were pretty much conceding 35-40 points and 15-20 rebounds while your frontline was in foul trouble. And then you had Kobe on the perimeter who was attacking the basket as aggressively as he has in his career while excelling as the team's facilitator. He was fitting his offense perfectly into the team, while also adding quite a few of his points in transition and semi-transition, which also made the duo work better with Shaq being the focal point of the halfcourt offense. And when Kobe did look to score in the halfcourt, he'd blow by his man and force the help to come over or else he'd finish over anyone(for proof of this watch the WCF when the twin towers didn't deter him), but if they did, there was also Shaq in the paint and Kobe would find him. You had Shaq averaging 30+/15+/3+ and Kobe averaging 29+/7+/6+. All on a 15-1 team that was embarrassing talented teams. That's 60/23/9 between just 2 players vs some very good defensive teams(Spurs and Sixers were both top 5). They were the 2 best offensive players in the game, Shaq was back to playing his 2000 level defense, and Kobe was arguably the best perimeter defender at the time. That may be the season when you can make the best case that a team had the 2 best players in the game.

Jordan and Pippen were the greatest perimeter duo. Arguably the 2 best perimeter defenders of all time, and what made the duo work so well was that there was arguably the greatest scorer ever, but he was playing alongside Pippen who became the team's primary facilitator, which allowed Jordan to play off the ball more, which made his scoring work better with the team, imo and also made it so he didn't have to average 35 while setting everyone up 24/7. They were deadly in transition, and it was even better that their positions were pretty much interchangeable with Pippen being the de-facto point guard, and Jordan actually being more of the forward in the team's offense. They were probably at their best as a duo in '96. Pippen had improved his overall game and had become an effective post player, a smarter defender and was probably helped by the year and a half where he was his team's leader. Jordan also hadn't fallen off that much. He had lost a bit athletically, but it didn't hurt him all that much since he had already shot a lot of jumpers by the time Phil took over, and was still athletic anyway. But while he had proven capable of scoring in the post whenever the match up presented itself in the early 90's, he did even more work down there second 3peat and was flat out unguardable. The biggest difference between '96 Jordan and '90-'93 Jordan was that he had lost some stamina which made it so he couldn't use the same energy at both ends as frequently. Obviously, Jordan won MVP by a landslide, and Pippen was also getting some MVP talk, and was probably playing the best basketball of his career in the first half before that ankle injury.

But a lot of duos deserve to be mentioned. Bird and McHale were amazing from '86-'88. And Bird and Parish were a formidable pick and roll duo themselves for that matter. But aside from Shaq/Kobe, has any duo been better than Bird and McHale in the '86 playoffs? Bird averaged 26/9/8, 52 FG%/62 TS% and McHale averaged 25/9/3, 58 FG%/64 TS%. But those numbers don't begin to explain how good Bird was as far as his passing or taking over games from his masterful all around finals to some incredible individual displays during the Hawks series. McHale also looked as unstoppable as a post scorer can and showed his defensive versatility by guarding Nique in the semifinals. They were also extremely consistent game by game during that run.

Obviously Magic and Kareem as well, though it's a shame their primes didn't overlap. Kareem was at the tail end of his prime when Magic entered the league while Kareem was 39-40 by the time Magic really hit his prime, but that duo worked really well with Magic leading the transition game and Kareem being the focal point of their halfcourt offense and the best post player for most of that era.

Kareem and Oscar seemed very effective in '71, I wish more footage was available, but they led a dominant team and despite being in his 2nd year, Kareem was most likely the best player in the game. Oscar was past his prime, but Kareem talks a lot about how effective Oscar still was in his book "Giant Steps" and how good he was at getting Kareem the ball in good position. From the limited footage available(regular season game vs Knicks and 2nd half of game 4 of the finals), you can see how good he was at finding his teammates as well as his mid-range shot and strength backing guards down.

As far as big man duos, Duncan and Robinson their first 3-4 years together would be hard to top. They may have been the greatest defensive duo of all time. Both were good passers and elite shot blockers/interior defenders who could face up and shoot or drive. Duncan was also one of the best back to the basket players and probably more comfortable being the man putting Robinson in a role where he could excel despite the fact that Robinson himself was still a 20/10 caliber player as late as 2000, while Duncan entered the league very polished and poised. Tim may have been as close to his prime level as a rookie/second year player as any great player aside from maybe Kareem.

Wilt and Hal Greer were probably one of the best as well, particularly in '67. Lebron and Wade are also an unusual duo. Like Shaq and Kobe, you they're one of 2 cases that I can think of where a team had arguably the top 2 players in the game. They may not be a natural fit alongside each other, but I think they're more comfortable with each other this season, especially since they're running more. But we haven't been able to see it as much with Wade's early injuries.

Malone and Stockton are another obvious one due to how well their games fit together. Both made the other one better more than any other great duo I can think of.



True, but he did have a remarkable comeback from that injury and had a phenomenal season in '72 alongside West. From what I've read, that may have been his greatest defensive season, and while I can't have the same perspective on that season, it seems like he was probably the second best player in the league that year, while West could've been top 3 despite his shooting slump during the playoffs. Obviously, we know that they were part of one of the all-time great teams.

Pretty much an end to the thread.

[pauk]

Payton & Kemp was very entertaining

[La Frescobaldi]

The way Shaq and Kobe played in the 2001 playoffs is the gold standard for duos, imo. Talk about pick your poison. If you didn't double Shaq aggressively, you were pretty much conceding 35-40 points and 15-20 rebounds while your frontline was in foul trouble. And then you had Kobe on the perimeter who was attacking the basket as aggressively as he has in his career while excelling as the team's facilitator. He was fitting his offense perfectly into the team, while also adding quite a few of his points in transition and semi-transition, which also made the duo work better with Shaq being the focal point of the halfcourt offense. And when Kobe did look to score in the halfcourt, he'd blow by his man and force the help to come over or else he'd finish over anyone(for proof of this watch the WCF when the twin towers didn't deter him), but if they did, there was also Shaq in the paint and Kobe would find him. You had Shaq averaging 30+/15+/3+ and Kobe averaging 29+/7+/6+. All on a 15-1 team that was embarrassing talented teams. That's 60/23/9 between just 2 players vs some very good defensive teams(Spurs and Sixers were both top 5). They were the 2 best offensive players in the game, Shaq was back to playing his 2000 level defense, and Kobe was arguably the best perimeter defender at the time. That may be the season when you can make the best case that a team had the 2 best players in the game.

Jordan and Pippen were the greatest perimeter duo. Arguably the 2 best perimeter defenders of all time, and what made the duo work so well was that there was arguably the greatest scorer ever, but he was playing alongside Pippen who became the team's primary facilitator, which allowed Jordan to play off the ball more, which made his scoring work better with the team, imo and also made it so he didn't have to average 35 while setting everyone up 24/7. They were deadly in transition, and it was even better that their positions were pretty much interchangeable with Pippen being the de-facto point guard, and Jordan actually being more of the forward in the team's offense. They were probably at their best as a duo in '96. Pippen had improved his overall game and had become an effective post player, a smarter defender and was probably helped by the year and a half where he was his team's leader. Jordan also hadn't fallen off that much. He had lost a bit athletically, but it didn't hurt him all that much since he had already shot a lot of jumpers by the time Phil took over, and was still athletic anyway. But while he had proven capable of scoring in the post whenever the match up presented itself in the early 90's, he did even more work down there second 3peat and was flat out unguardable. The biggest difference between '96 Jordan and '90-'93 Jordan was that he had lost some stamina which made it so he couldn't use the same energy at both ends as frequently. Obviously, Jordan won MVP by a landslide, and Pippen was also getting some MVP talk, and was probably playing the best basketball of his career in the first half before that ankle injury.

But a lot of duos deserve to be mentioned. Bird and McHale were amazing from '86-'88. And Bird and Parish were a formidable pick and roll duo themselves for that matter. But aside from Shaq/Kobe, has any duo been better than Bird and McHale in the '86 playoffs? Bird averaged 26/9/8, 52 FG%/62 TS% and McHale averaged 25/9/3, 58 FG%/64 TS%. But those numbers don't begin to explain how good Bird was as far as his passing or taking over games from his masterful all around finals to some incredible individual displays during the Hawks series. McHale also looked as unstoppable as a post scorer can and showed his defensive versatility by guarding Nique in the semifinals. They were also extremely consistent game by game during that run.

Obviously Magic and Kareem as well, though it's a shame their primes didn't overlap. Kareem was at the tail end of his prime when Magic entered the league while Kareem was 39-40 by the time Magic really hit his prime, but that duo worked really well with Magic leading the transition game and Kareem being the focal point of their halfcourt offense and the best post player for most of that era.

Kareem and Oscar seemed very effective in '71, I wish more footage was available, but they led a dominant team and despite being in his 2nd year, Kareem was most likely the best player in the game. Oscar was past his prime, but Kareem talks a lot about how effective Oscar still was in his book "Giant Steps" and how good he was at getting Kareem the ball in good position. From the limited footage available(regular season game vs Knicks and 2nd half of game 4 of the finals), you can see how good he was at finding his teammates as well as his mid-range shot and strength backing guards down.

As far as big man duos, Duncan and Robinson their first 3-4 years together would be hard to top. They may have been the greatest defensive duo of all time. Both were good passers and elite shot blockers/interior defenders who could face up and shoot or drive. Duncan was also one of the best back to the basket players and probably more comfortable being the man putting Robinson in a role where he could excel despite the fact that Robinson himself was still a 20/10 caliber player as late as 2000, while Duncan entered the league very polished and poised. Tim may have been as close to his prime level as a rookie/second year player as any great player aside from maybe Kareem.

Wilt and Hal Greer were probably one of the best as well, particularly in '67. Lebron and Wade are also an unusual duo. Like Shaq and Kobe, you they're one of 2 cases that I can think of where a team had arguably the top 2 players in the game. They may not be a natural fit alongside each other, but I think they're more comfortable with each other this season, especially since they're running more. But we haven't been able to see it as much with Wade's early injuries.

Malone and Stockton are another obvious one due to how well their games fit together. Both made the other one better more than any other great duo I can think of.



True, but he did have a remarkable comeback from that injury and had a phenomenal season in '72 alongside West. From what I've read, that may have been his greatest defensive season, and while I can't have the same perspective on that season, it seems like he was probably the second best player in the league that year, while West could've been top 3 despite his shooting slump during the playoffs. Obviously, we know that they were part of one of the all-time great teams.

*************************************

ShaqAttack with deep basketball knowledge on display

[hkfosho]

u guys forgot nash and stoudemire!!!

[Cowboy Thunder]

probably the best jerseys of all time. I had the Payton one as a kid.

[get these NETS]

chris childs' two piece against kobe...

..oh.....wrong answer

[Cowboy Thunder]

Heavy D and Reggie Miller > *

[Scholar]

Yeah, a lot of names already mentioned...

If they stayed together, they certinaly could have been one of the greatest duo's:

Those shoes VC is rocking in that picture look so fly, even though they are 10+ years old. I think he wore the same ones (or at least same style) during the 2000 Dunk Contest.