Ringless One-Two Punches: The NBA's Greatest Duos To Never Win a Title | News, Scores, Highlights, Stats, and Rumors
Several dynamic duos have powered their teams to championships throughout NBA history.
Bill Russell and Bob Cousy played a huge role in the Boston Celtics dynasty in the 1950s and 1960s.
Here is a list of the top seven NBA duos that never managed to produce a title:
7. Clyde Drexler and Terry Porter (Portland Trail Blazers)
The Drexler and Porter combination is one of the league's best backcourts of all time. Drexler, known as "Clyde the Glide", was the ultimate showman, while Porter could kill you from beyond the arc.
Both players were All-Stars in 1991 and 1993.
Together they led the Blazers to two NBA Finals appearances: one in 1990 against the "Bad Boy" Detroit Pistons and another in 1992 against Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and the Chicago Bulls.
6. Shawn Kemp and Gary Payton (Seattle SuperSonics)
Kemp and Payton just might be the NBA's most exciting alley-oop duo ever. Night after night, Kemp would catch Payton's perfectly thrown lob passes and slam the ball home with one of his many amazing dunks.
They led the Sonics to the 1996 Finals, where they were defeated by Chicago in six games.
Kemp failed to ever win a title, but Payton did so with the Miami Heat in 2006.
5. Shaquille O'Neal and Anfernee "Penny" Hardaway (Orlando Magic)
Before there was Shaq and Kobe and Shaq and Wade, there was Shaq and Penny.
In each of their three seasons together, the talented young duo led the Magic to at least 50 wins, including a franchise-best 60 in 1995-96.
With Shaq dunking all over the league and Penny playing like a newer version of Magic Johnson, Orlando reached the NBA Finals in 1996, where it was swept by Hakeem Olajuwon's Houston Rockets.
4. Oscar Robertson and Jerry Lucas (Cincinnati Royals)
Prior to winning a title with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and the Milwaukee Bucks in 1971, Robertson was paired with another Hall of Famer, Jerry Lucas, with the Cincinnati Royals.
The Robertson-Lucas duo never reached the Finals during their seven seasons together, but they both put up some pretty big numbers. Robertson usually averaged around 30 points and 10 assists, while Lucas added about 20 points and 20 rebounds per game.
Lucas won his one and only title in 1973 with the New York Knicks.
3. Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson (Houston Rockets)
The San Antonio Spurs once featured a dangerous big man duo of Tim Duncan and David Robinson.
However, the first "Twin Towers" played for the Rockets in the '80s—Hakeem Olajuwon and Ralph Sampson.
The two All-Star big men both averaged at least 20 points and 10 rebounds per game in their first season together, 1984-85, and they led Houston to the Finals the following year, when the team fell to the Boston Celtics.
Olajuwon later picked up two titles in the '90s, while Sampson's career was cut short because of injuries.
2. Elgin Baylor and Jerry West (Los Angeles Lakers)
The Hall of Fame, high-scoring duo of Baylor and West lifted the Lakers to the NBA Finals a whopping seven times during their 12 seasons together in Los Angeles. But unfortunately they were unable to win a title as teammates.
Both Baylor and West averaged at least 30 points per game in 1961-62. Baylor put up a remarkable 38.3 ppg that year.
West ended up getting a ring in 1971-72, which just so happened to be the season that Baylor retired nine games into.
1. John Stockton and Karl Malone (Utah Jazz)
Stockton and Malone made the playoffs in each of their 18 seasons together. They led the Jazz to back-to back NBA Finals appearances in the '90s and could've won a title or two if Michael Jordan hadn't gotten in the way.
Stockton is the league's all-time assists leader, and Malone is second all-time in scoring behind Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
This Hall of Fame duo is always considered one of the NBA's greatest even though they never won a championship together.
