Ranking the top 10 NBA superstar duos heading into the 2023-24 season

Don’t call it a comeback, duos have been here for years.

The NBA has had many a fabled trio over its three-quarter century history but there’s still something that hits different when talking about dynastic duos. Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Magic Johnson, Shaquille O’Neal and Kobe Bryant, or Bill Russell and Bob Cousy before Celtics fans get mad about too many Lakers references.

Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen joining forces with Paul Pierce in Boston reignited the concept of the Big Three that evolved into the Heatles and even temporarily a Big Four with the Warriors, but LeBron James and Anthony Davis made duos sexy again in 2020 while Nikola Jokic and Jamal Murray further stamped that claim this past season.

Now, with Damian Lillard shipped off by the Portland Trail Blazers to the Milwaukee Bucks to play alongside Giannis Antetokounmpo, it’s a perfect time to check the landscape and examine the best tandems the NBA has to offer heading into the 2023-24 season:

Jokic 2022-23 stats: 69 GP, 24.5 PTS, 11.8 REB, 9.8 AST, 1.3 STL., 67.5% 2PT%
Murray 2022-23 stats: 65 GP, 20.0 PTS, 4.0 REB, 6.2 AST, 1.0 STL, 39.8% 3PT%

To be the best, you’re gonna have to beat the best, and until further notice, Jokic and Murray earned the top spot by dismantling teams en route to their first NBA title.

In one of the more dominant post-season runs, the Nuggets went 16-4 in the playoffs including winning 10 of its final 11 games. Jokic and Murray showed the world exactly what they can be when they’re both at their best, the most dominant duo in basketball.

In case you need a reminder, Jokic and Murray became the first-ever pair of teammates to have 30-point triple-doubles in any NBA game, regular season or playoffs. The crazy part is that they didn’t do it in just any game. They did it in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Jokic and Murray have built chemistry over a period of seven years now, all under head coach Michael Malone, and it shows in the way they play off each other. Their passing and movement is always in sync and that imaginary tug of war between when to take over and when to sit back ebbs and flows to perfection.

Now, can they repeat the trick?

Antetokounmpo 2022-23 stats: 63 GP, 31.1 PTS, 11.8 REB, 5.7 AST, 0.8 BLK, 0.8 STL
Lillard 2022-23 stats: 58 GP, 32.2 PTS, 4.8 REB, 7.3 AST, 0.9 STL, 57.4% 2PT%

If you could handpick any guard in the league to play alongside Antetokounmpo, arguably the only other player you would choose ahead of Lillard would be Steph Curry.

The Bucks swung for the fences after Antetokounmpo made comments teasing the possibility of leaving if he didn’t feel winning was enough of a priority for the people above him. By trading Jrue Holiday and their future for a seven-time All-NBAer and member of the 75th Anniversary team, Milwaukee has delivered.

Lillard’s unlimited shooting range and Antetokounmpo’s paint dominance make this a match made in heaven. At their best, both are All-NBA First Team material, Lillard may be the most clutch player in the league, and Antetokounmpo is also a perennial All-Defensive First Team candidate.

A bit of the optimism has to be reined in as there is a new head coach in Adrian Griffin to get used to and Lillard certainly won’t be anywhere near the defensive stopper Holiday was.

Durant 2022-23 stats: 47 GP, 29.1 PTS, 6.7 REB, 5.0 AST, 1.4 BLK, 40.4% 3PT%
Booker 2022-23 stats: 53 GP, 27.8 PTS, 4.5 REB, 5.5 AST, 1.0 STL, 55.4% 2PT%

With the benefit of hindsight, we can now see that the Suns pushed the Nuggets harder than any other team last post-season. Despite only joining the team after the trade deadline and only playing six regular season games, Durant’s fit with Booker and the Suns was seamless.

There was no sense of entitlement in the playoffs as Durant was happy to play second fiddle to Booker when the latter had it going and vice versa. Booker showed that he has another gear to him defensively as well, giving this duo a rare level of defensive versatility to go with their highly efficient scoring prowess.

Throw in a full training camp and an entire season to get further acclimated while Bradley Beal helps lessen the load and the Suns should be an absolute bear to deal with next post-season.

Curry 2022-23 stats: 56 GP, 29.4 PTS, 6.1 REB, 6.3 AST, 0.9 STL, 42.7% 3PT%
Thompson 2022-23 stats: 69 GP, 21.9 PTS, 4.1 REB, 2.4 AST, 0.7 STL, 41.2% 3PT%

No pair in the league currently has accomplished more together than these two. Four rings and champions as recently as 2022, the Splash Brothers will go down as the best shooting duo in NBA history with individual and team accolades to prove it.

Curry still looks as dominant as ever but it’s Thompson who will be hoping to prove that there’s still some greatness left in the tank. While he remains a highly effective player, Thompson understandably hasn’t scaled the heights he did prior to rupturing his left knee ACL in 2019 and then his right Achilles in 2020.

Last season was his first full year back and Thompson still led the league with 301 three-pointers made. If he can come close to being the defensive player he was when he made an All-Defensive team in 2018-19, Dub Nation will have high hopes for Ring No. 5 in the Splash era.

Tatum 2022-23 stats: 74 GP, 30.1 PTS, 8.8 REB, 4.6 AST, 0.7 BLK, 1.1 STL
Brown 2022-23 stats: 67 GP, 26.6 PTS, 6.9 REB, 3.5 AST, 0.4 BLK, 1.1 STL

Since first pairing together in the 2017-18 season, Tatum and Brown have combined to win 10 playoff series in six seasons, made the NBA Finals once, and lost in the East Finals three times.

Entering their age 26 and age 27 seasons, respectively, Tatum and Brown already have a wealth of experience and success together to get over the hump as they become the best version of themselves.

Tatum’s worst games are still too low of a floor for a superstar while Brown has to improve his playmaking. For example, Brown finished last season’s East Finals against the Heat with 25 turnovers to 24 assists. It’s a big part of why the Celtics went down 0-3 to the Heat and their respective ceilings were just as much a reason why they clawed their way back to force a Game 7.

The key to a Tatum-Brown led team winning a championship is the pair individually raising their respective floors.

James 2022-23 stats: 55 GP, 28.9 PTS, 8.3 REB, 6.8 AST, 0.6 BLK 0.9 STL
Davis 2022-23 stats: 56 GP, 25.9 PTS, 12.5 REB, 2.6 AST, 2.0 BLK, 1.1 STL

James and Davis are now three years removed from winning a title and were swept out of last season’s West Finals by the Denver Nuggets. They were thoroughly impressive in eliminating defending champion Golden State in the conference semis but James is entering his age 39 season and Davis has played just 132 of the Lakers’ last 236 regular season games. That’s why they still needed to qualify for the playoffs via the Play-In tournament.

When James hinted at retirement at the end of last season, no one took it seriously. What the Lakers should have heeded from that message, though, was that James issued a public demand for help. That in order for the Lakers to seriously contend again, just him and Davis as a dynamic duo would not be enough.

Butler 2022-23 stats: 64 GP, 22.9 PTS, 5.9 REB, 5.3 AST, 1.8 STL, 1.6 TO
Adebayo 2022-23 stats: 75 GP, 20.4 PTS, 9.2 REB, 3.2 AST, 0.8 BLK, 1.2 STL

Yes, it’s true, Butler and Adebayo combined to take down Tatum, Brown, and the Celtics to reach the NBA Finals as recently as this past season. It’s also true that Tatum and Brown are approaching their primes while Butler will be 35 when the 2023-24 season begins.

It seemed like the Heat needed Damian Lillard to stay at the level they finished last season. Having missed out, the fact that this team made last season’s playoffs via the Play-In tournament is more prevalent and that fairytale Finals run may just have been the pinnacle of the Jimmy and Bam era.

Leonard 2022-23 stats: 52 GP, 23.8 PTS, 6.5 REB, 3.9 AST, 1.4 STL, 41.6% 3PT%
George 2022-23 stats: 56 GP, 23.8 PTS, 6.1 REB, 5.1 AST, 0.4 BLK, 1.5 STL

Leonard and George at the peak of their powers would be higher on this list but the reality is that injuries have run riot during their time together with the Clippers. NBA games aren’t played on paper and their theoretical ceiling has yet to materialize on court.

At ages 32 and 33, respectively, Leonard and George are running out of time to make what was once the most tantalizing two-way duo in 2019 one that will be remembered in the winner’s circle. They do have a Conference Finals appearance during their time together and that keeps them ahead of the next two duos.

Fox 2022-23 stats: 73 GP, 25.0 PTS, 4.2 REB, 6.1 AST, 1.1 STL, 58.4% 2PT%
Sabonis 2022-23 stats: 79 GP, 19.1 PTS, 12.3 REB, 7.3 AST, 0.8 STL, 63.9% 2PT%

Offensively, Fox and Sabonis are truly elite, elevating the Kings to the league’s best offensive rating last season. In Sacramento’s first playoff appearance in 16 years, the defending champion Warriors were given everything it could handle before coming away with the series in seven games.

Sabonis was bruised and battered throughout the series, and that experience could help him find another gear necessary for the post-season. If he can improve defensively, the ceiling in Sacramento gets considerably higher.

Embiid 2022-23 stats: 66 GP, 33.1 PTS, 10.2 REB, 4.2 AST, 1.7 BLK, 1.0 STL
Harden 2022-23 stats: 58 GP, 21.0 PTS, 6.1 REB, 10.7 AST, 1.2 STL, 38.5% 3PT%

There’s no debating that Embiid and Harden could and should be higher up this list. The reasons they’re not, though, are entirely on themselves. The uncertainty that looms over Philadelphia after Harden’s trade request can’t be ignored, and as great as Embiid has been in winning regular season MVP last season and finishing as runner-up the previous two years, the reality is that the Trust the Process Sixers have yet to make a Conference Finals appearance.

Games 1 and Game 4 for Harden against the Celtics in the Conference Semifinals where he scored a combined 87 points initially looked like playoff legacy-altering moments. By series-end, it was just more fuel to the fire that Harden shrinks in the biggest of moments. In Games 6 and 7, he scored just 22 points combined on 7-of-27 shooting as the Sixers let slip of a 3-2 series lead.

Good luck, Nick Nurse.

Honourable mention:

Ja Morant and Jaren Jackson Jr. (Memphis Grizzlies)

Luka Doncic and Kyrie Irving (Dallas Mavericks)

Anthony Edwards and Karl-Anthony Towns (Minnesota Timberwolves)

Jalen Brunson and Julius Randle (New York Knicks)

Donovan Mitchell and Darius Garland (Cleveland Cavaliers)

Shai Gilgeous-Alexander and Josh Giddey (Oklahoma City Thunder)