Every time the Warriors are on national television, it feels like there is a conversation about the best back courts in NBA history.
There’s good reason for that: Golden State is home to Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, one of the most dynamic duos in the league who have spent the last decade breaking records and competing for championships.
There is no question that Curry and Thompson form one of the best back tracks we’ve seen, but are they? the better?
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To answer that question, five of our Sporting News staff: Gilbert McGregor, Micah Adams, Carlan gay, Jordan greer Y myself – ranked who they believe are the 10 best backcourts in NBA history. We then use a point system (10 points for first place, 9 points for second place, 8 points for third place, etc.) to get to the next list.
Don’t you like our list? Let us know!
The 10 best backcourts in NBA history
10. Chris Paul and James Harden, Rockets
Their time together was short-lived, but the Rockets had a combined 118-46 record in the two seasons that Paul and Harden were teammates. His greatest achievement was pushing a Warriors team built around four all-time talents: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Draymond Green to seven games in the 2018 Western Conference Finals. Hamstring wouldn’t have cost Paul the final two games of the series, both lost to the Rockets, perhaps they would have advanced to the Finals.
MORE: How Kyrie’s Injury Is Affecting Harden, Nets
9. Kobe Bryant and Derek Fisher, Lakers
Bryant and Fisher won five titles during their time as teammates with the Lakers. An 18-time All-Star with two Finals MVP awards and one MVP award, Bryant’s accomplishments speak for themselves, but Fisher was the Lakers’ starting point guard in four of the five championships they won together and became known for his heroics at the decisive moment. . Fisher, a 37.4 percent 3-point shooter, proved to be an ideal running mate for Bryant in the backcourt.
8. Michael Jordan and Ron Harper, Bulls
Harper was a different player when he joined the Bulls. While he began his career as a favorite scorer, he became a stuntman playing alongside Jordan in Chicago, reinventing himself as a locked perimeter defender. Starting at point guard, Harper played a key role in Chicago’s second hat-trick. As for Jordan, well, he surpassed LeBron James for the number one spot on SN’s biggest peaks series. He had a decent career himself. Without disrespecting Harper, but let’s be honest … you could probably pick any fan in the stands, place him next to No. 23, and we’d put him in the top 10.
7. Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe, Knicks
Both Frazier and Monroe found their way to the NBA’s 75th anniversary team. Monroe was already a two-time All-Star when he joined the Knicks in 1971, but he won two more playing alongside Frazier, who amassed a total of seven All-Star appearances in his Hall of Fame career. Frazier (21.9) and Monroe (16.1) were New York’s top scorers in the team’s championship race in 1973.
6. Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili, Spurs
Parker and Ginobili are two pillars of one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history. Parker was one of the league’s best point guards in his prime, winning six All-Star selections and a Finals Most Valuable Player award in 2008. Although Ginobili was off the bench for most of his career, he is one of the best sixth men in the league. history and often closed matches alongside Parker and Tim Duncan. Parker and Ginobili won four championships together in San Antonio.
5. Magic Johnson and Byron Scott, Lakers
The Showtime Lakers were powered by their Magic All-Star trio, James Worthy and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, but Scott was an important part of three of their championships. He led the Lakers in scoring with 21.7 points per game, the best of his career, during the 1987-88 season. He then averaged 19.6 points per game in the playoffs, helping Los Angeles win its third championship in four seasons.
MORE: Magic Johnson Critic of Lakers’ Early Season Drama
4. Bob Cousy and Sam Jones, Celtics
Between 1957 and 1969, the Celtics won 11 championships. Cousy and Jones were teammates in five of those title races. Cousy, who led the league in assists for eight consecutive seasons, once said that “Sam and Bill Sharman are probably the ones most responsible for me getting into the Hall of Fame because every time I threw the ball at them, they put it in the damn place. hole “. Like Frazier and Monroe, both Cousy and Jones were part of the NBA’s 75th anniversary team.
3. Jerry West and Gail Goodrich, Lakers
In 2015, lifetime NBA player Pat Riley called Curry and Thompson the “two most dynamic players in the backcourt” he had seen since West and Goodrich. Between 1970-74, West averaged 24.6 points (on 47.9 percent shooting from the field) and 9.0 assists per game, versus Goodrich’s 23.2 points (on 46.6 percent shooting) and 4.7 assists per game. West and Goodrich led the Lakers in scoring in their title run in 1972, the only championship of their careers.
2. Isiah Thomas and Joe Dumars, Pistons
Led by Thomas and Dumars, the Pistons defeated the Lakers in the 1989 NBA Finals to win the franchise’s first championship. They followed him by defeating the Trail Blazers in 1990 to go back to back. The remainder of the 1990s was dominated by Jordan and the Bulls, but the Bad Boy Pistons proved to be Jordan’s biggest rival early in his career.
Thomas is one of the greatest point guards of all time and Dumars won six All-Star, five All-Defensive and three All-NBA picks in his career.
1. Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, Warriors
Surprise! Curry and Thompson are widely considered the two best shooters in NBA history. Together, they laid the groundwork for one of the greatest dynasties in NBA history, resulting in five straight trips to the Finals and three championships for Golden State. In 2015-16, Curry and Thompson played a central role on the Warriors with a 73-9 record, setting an NBA record for wins in a season.
MORE: Every 3-point record Curry holds
The scary part? The story of Curry and Thompson together is still being written.
