Top Duos in NBA History

When LeBron James decided he was going to sign with the Miami Heat and "take his talents to South Beach" everyone knew that he and Dwyane Wade would now form one of the most formidable duos the NBA has ever seen. I'm not ready to call them a trio with Chris Bosh. Chris Bosh has yet to do ANYTHING to warrant anything other than being a tag-a-long to James and Wade. How this chemistry is going to work is yet to be seen, but if past history is any indication, we could see the Heat raising the Larry O'Brien trophy quite a few times in the coming years. Where will Wade and LeBron stack up when it's all said and done? When LeBron aired "The Decision," was it the right one? Let's revisit some of the NBA's best duos to see what might be in store for them.

Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - Los Angeles Lakers

Kareem had had as an illustrious career as anyone in the history of the NBA before the Lakers drafted Magic in 1979. He had won a title in 1971 but had struggled to get back to championship form since. Magic was the key as he and Kareem were able to lead the Lakers to five more titles in the 80's. No one cold stop Kareem inside when he finally had a guy like Magic to distribute the ball to him and as a result the Lakers of the 80's were one of the NBA's greatest dynasties.

Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen - Chicago Bulls

The Bulls of the 90's were even more dominant then the Lakers of the 80's as Jordan and Pippen led them to 6 NBA titles. Although this was obviously Jordan's team, it was Pippen's skill as a sidekick that allowed the Bulls to have such versatility and gave Jordan a reliable outlet for when he was double-teamed and needed someone to make a big shot. These two won championships with a number of surrounding characters (most notably Dennis Rodman) and will forever be listed as the benchmark for successful NBA duos.

Karl Malone and John Stockton - Utah Jazz

Who knows? Had Stockton and Malone played in any other era than the Jordan-Pippen era, we might be writing about their own ½ dozen championships. Alas, the purveyors of the prettiest pick-and-roll in the history of the NBA never could get past Jordan's (and Pippen's) Bulls. It's hard to think that a team with the two-time NBA MVP and second place all-time leading scorer and (Malone) and the all-time assists leader (Stockton) couldn't get over the hump and take a championship or two. Regardless of their championship woes, Stockton and Malone will go down as one of the most fundamentally sound and statistically successfully duos ever.

Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant - Los Angeles Lakers

At the start of the 2000's Shaq and Kobe were essentially unstoppable. They won 3 straight titles together and were primed to dominate the NBA and become the best NBA duo ever. Rarely had a duo has a dominant inside force like Shaq and an assassin outside making the game winning shots like Kobe. They probably would have even beaten the Jordan and Pippen teams. It's too bad that L.A. wasn't big enough for the two of them. With Kobe coming into his prime and Shaq leading the Heat to a title as soon as he left town, if they hadn't "broken up," we might be counting the number of championships they won together on our toes.

Larry Bird and Kevin McHale - Boston Celtics

As a Celtics homer, I have to thrown Bird and McHale on here. Bird is one of the greatest players ever and McHale probably one the best 6^th man to ever lace up a pair of sneakers (twice the NBA Sixth Man of the Year). They won three titles together in the 80's amid the Lakers' run, and were nary to ever be beaten to a loose ball. They might have won more titles together if they hadn't gone to battle with the Lakers so many times but seeing them match up against Kareem and Magic was a sight to be seen. Those two duos provided some of the best and most drama filled basketball the NBA has ever seen.

All data collected from www.basketball-reference.com