Ranking the NBA's top 5 duos heading into the 2021-22 campaign
The NBA has witnessed some great duos in its history, such as Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen of the Chicago Bulls and LeBron James and Dwyane Wade of the Miami Heat.
If teams want to win the championship, it often comes down to who can assemble the most cohesive set of stars, and that begins with the duo of superstars. These are the players that often carry the team forward and who tend to know each other's games inside out.
The NBA currently has a plethora of high-scoring talent, with some teams lucky enough to have a trio of superstars. On that note, let's have a look at the league's best pairings and how they could help their teams win a title this year.
#5 Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson
Although their pedigree is well known as one of the greatest duos in NBA history, the pairing of Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson ranks low, owing to the latter's impending return from injury. Without Thompson last season, Curry carried the Golden State Warriors into the NBA play-in tournament, where the team narrowly missed out on the playoffs despite Curry leading the league in scoring.
Curry averaged 32 points per game last season, and while it is unlikely he will do the same again this campaign, having another elite shotmaker on the floor is only going to draw some of the swarming defenses away from him. It could also propel the Golden State Warriors back into the postseason. Depending on how quickly Thompson can get back into his pre-injury flow, it could make the team title contenders too.
Before back-to-back season-ending injuries, Klay Thompson was averaging 20 points a night and shooting above 40% from the deep. With Curry, Thompson will be one of the most feared duos this season, likely to run teams ragged in offense and grabbing steals in defense to launch fast breaks.
#4 Chris Paul and Devin Booker
Although age is beginning to catch up with Chris Paul, he still did Point God things last season. The 36-year-old averaged 16.4 points, 8.9 assists and 1.4 steals while shooting close to 50-40-90 (49.9, 39.5, 93.4). Combining with the team's natural scorer, Devin Booker, it was no surprise that the Phoenix Suns made it to the NBA Finals this year.
The duo combined for 36.5% of the Suns' points and 49% of their assists last season, with those numbers rising to 42.6% of points and 56.4% of assists in the playoffs. Paul's arrival has helped continue to build Booker's status as a superstar, and has taken the ball out of his hands, allowing him to focus on creating space and finding his spots.