It's no secret that in order to win an NBA championship a team needs at least two superstar players on its' roster. The league has been blessed enough to offer some of the best one-two tandems to ever bless the sport of basketball. However, as the list of duos continues to grow, the debate gets tougher to choose from.
This past season, Kevin Durant, who can easily make the list twice for his time spent with Russell Westbrook, added to the list by winning his first NBA title playing alongside former two-time MVP Steph Curry.
The two players put up tremendous numbers together, while easily defeating another great duo in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving in just five games.
The win solidified their spots in NBA history and instantly made them future candidates for the best duo debate. Unfortunately, due to the short time Curry and KD have spent with one another, they will not yet be considered this time around.
'Magic and Kareem'
Magic Johnson and Kareem Abdul-Jabar were the leaders of the "Showtime" Lakers during the 1980s. The tandem was able to win 5 NBA titles together and they excited the fans for years while doing it.
Both Magic and Kareem were inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame after retiring from the game of basketball.
Magic Johnson walked away from the game as a 3-time NBA league and Finals MVP. He made 12 All-Star game appearances and is the NBA's all-time playoffs assist leader. His career averages are 19.5 points, 11.2 assists, and 7.2 rebounds. Kareem is the NBA's all-time scoring leader with career averages of 24.6 points, 11.2 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks.
'Mike and Scottie'
Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were able to win 6 NBA titles together throughout the 1990s for the Chicago Bulls. They posted back to back three-peats between the years of 1990-92 and 1996-98. Michael Jordan is considered by most the greatest player of all-time.
Scottie Pippen has been named as one of the 50 greatest NBA players to ever play the game.
Jordan was a 5-time NBA MVP and he won the Finals MVP award all six times he competed in the championship. He also won the NBA Defensive Player of the Year award once in 1988. He retired with career averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 5.3 assists. Pippen finished his career with averages of 16.1 points, 6.4 rebounds, and 2.0 steals.
'Kobe and Shaq'
Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O'Neal had one of the rockiest relationships for an NBA duo but still managed to be arguably the most dominant. Two two stars were able to go on a three-peat during the years of 2000-02 with the Los Angeles Lakers. At the time Shaq was the most dominant player in the game, while Kobe was becoming the next best thing to Michael Jordan.
During those three championship years with Shaq, Bryant averaged 25.4 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.9 rebounds. Shaq averaged 28.5 points, 12.3 rebounds, and 2.6 blocks. Despite their public feud that was blown up in the media, the numbers between the two are arguably the best against any other duo. Unfortunately, the two eventually split just two years after winning their third NBA title together.
'LeBron and Wade'
LeBron James and Dwyane Wade had four exciting years together for the Miami Heat from 2010-14 and went to the NBA Finals in every season. The duo was able to win 2 championships before LeBron decided to return to home to Cleveland. James would win 2 or his 4 total NBA MVP awards during those four seasons.
He also won both Finals MVP awards for the two championships they were able to win together.
In the four seasons together LeBron posted averages of 26.9 points, 6.7 assists, and 7.6 rebounds. Dwyane Wade, who had previously won an NBA title in 2006 with the Heat alongside Shaquille O'Neal was the perfect running mate for James. During those four seasons with James, Wade averaged 22.0 points, 4.8 assists, and 5.1 rebounds.