The 15 Greatest Duos in NBA History, Ranked

The standard. Jordan and Pippen went six for six in the Finals, never needed a Game 7 to close one out, and won 73.4% of every game they played together in Chicago. Pippen was the perfect complement: an all-time defender and secondary creator who let Jordan be the most ruthless scorer the league has seen. No duo combines peak, longevity, and hardware quite like Jordan and Pippen.

Showtime, distilled to two names. Magic arrived in 1979 to pair maybe the greatest point guard ever with likely the greatest center in NBA history. The Lakers dominated the 80s, reaching the finals eight times and winning five titles. Their 73.2% win rate is the best of any duo who played together for over a decade.

At its peak, debatably the most dominant duo ever. From 2000 to 2002 the Lakers three-peated behind a prime Shaq and a rising Kobe, and their 49.1 combined points per game ties Jordan and Pippen. Had a feud not ended their partnership early, they may be even higher on this list.

The Splash Brothers changed the sport's geometry. No teammates have ever combined for more three-pointers, and no backcourt has ever carried this much gravity: four titles and six Finals from 2015 through 2022. Curry and Draymond Green actually logged more games, but Curry and Klay were the identity of the dynasty.

The most decorated duo in the history of American team sports, and it is not close. Russell and Jones won ten titles together in twelve seasons, more than any other NBA pair, while winning 71.8% of nearly a thousand shared games. Modern rankings tend to discount the era; the record book does not.

No two players have shared a floor more often. Stockton and Malone played 1,590 games together over 18 seasons in Utah, more than 300 more than any other duo, and ran the league's most reliable pick-and-roll for the better part of two decades. The all-time assists leader feeding a top-three all-time scorer, blocked from a ring only by the duo at number one.

The engine of the longest sustained excellence in league history. Duncan and Parker won four titles across 15 seasons and more playoff games together than any pair ever. Add Manu Ginobili, who won 71.1% of his 1,102 games with Duncan, and three of the six most-played duos ever wore the same uniform.

The best forward pairing ever. Bird's shooting and passing next to McHale's unguardable post game won three titles and made the 1986 Celtics a permanent entry in the greatest-team argument. With Robert Parish they formed the standard against which every big three is measured.

The duo that changed how superteams are built. Four straight Finals in Miami, two titles, and the most seamless star-to-star chemistry of the modern era: nobody threw the lob better than Wade, and nobody finished it better than LeBron. Shorter run than most on this list, but the impact was seismic.

Four seasons, one title, and the best win percentage of any duo in our top 15. A young Kareem and a veteran Oscar won 66 games and the 1971 championship in their first year together in Milwaukee. Brief, but staggeringly effective.

The highest-scoring duo ever. When both took the floor, West and Baylor combined for 53.1 points per game, the best mark of any teammates. They reached seven Finals together, unfortunately losing them all (most to Russell's Celtics). Baylor then retired nine games into the 1971-72 season where the Lakers went on to win the title without him.

The trade that saved the post-Shaq Lakers. Gasol arrived in 2008 and Los Angeles went to three straight Finals, winning two. Kobe called him the most skilled big man he ever played with, and the two-man game they ran in the 2010 Finals against Boston remains a masterclass.

The most talented duo to never win it. Durant and Westbrook combined for 49.4 points per game across eight seasons in Oklahoma City, reached the 2012 Finals before either turned 24, and blew a 3-1 conference finals lead in 2016 that split the duo forever. An MVP each, zero rings together.

The shortest run on this list and the most dominant. For three seasons the Warriors put two MVPs in the same lineup, won 78.4% of their games together, went back-to-back, and combined for 52.0 points a night. The brevity, and the ready-made roster around them, is why the pairing ranks below other duos.

The best two-man game of the current era. Jokic and Murray have run the same two-man actions for a decade in Denver, winning the 2023 title, and their 656 games together already rank among the most of any active pairing. The partnership is still adding to its trophy case.