Who’s the Greatest NBA Duo To Never Win a Ring?
Ten one-two punches who remained relevant for a significant stretch, but never won a championship.
(from Brad Callas at The Medium Sports)
Here is how Brad is listing them and if Stockton and Malone were not your very first guess, when you thought about this topic, we might need to get you to jump off, right here….
Let’s show you the 1-10/Top Ten Countdown(going in reverse order) and then we will leave you with a link so you can read more at your own convenience…
Here is how it goes coming in from Brad Callas, at The Medium Sports:
10. Charles Barkley & Kevin Johnson
9. Patrick Ewing & John Starks
8. Hakeem Olajuwon & Ralph Sampson
7. Chris Paul & Blake Griffin
6. Steve Nash & Amar’e Stoudemire
5. Gary Payton & Shawn Kemp
4. Shaquille O’Neal & Penny Hardaway
3. Kevin Durant & Russell Westbrook
2. Jerry West & Elgin Baylor
1. Karl Malone & John Stockton
Resume: Utah Jazz, 18 seasons (1985–03), 18 playoff trips, Western Conference Finals (’92, ’94, ’96, ’97, ‘98), NBA Finals (’97, ‘98), 50 wins (ten times), 60 wins (three times), All-NBA for nine straight years (1987–96)
For 18 seasons- EIGHTEEN – Utah had a one-two punch comprised of both the decade’s best power forward (the second greatest PF of all-time, to boot) and best point guard (arguably the third-best PG ever). Yet, despite making the playoffs in each of their eighteen seasons together, and carrying the Jazz to 50-plus-wins eleven times, including in nine seasons over a ten-year stretch (1988–98), Malone and Stockton only made two trips to the Finals, failing to get there until the very tail-end of their primes, in ’97 and ’98.
**********Brad goes on to say:
Think of it this way: for an entire decade, Malone and Stockton were the most talented duo on the planet – arguably superior to Jordan-Pippen if only because Stockton was, individually, better than Pippen.**********
CLICK HERE to read all and to see more/all, from Brad Callas, at The Medium Sports, and this makes for very good read, here on this Wednesday and the day before the 2019 NBA Draft….