Greatest duos

[Mike G]

Are Durant and Westbrook the greatest duo in NBA history? Single season or longer?
Both have tremendous numbers: PER, WS/48, WS, BPM, and VORP that would lead the league in some seasons.
Since 1974, some 22 teams have had 2 players with the following qualifications: PER>23, WS>9, VORP>3
http://bkref.com/tiny/UgRB1

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tm     yr     duo      min   PER    ws/48   WS    BPM  VORP
Phl   1983   Moses    2922   25.1   .248   15.1   3.4   3.9
Phl   1983   Erving   2421   23.1   .217   10.9   6.3   5.0

Bos   1987   Bird     3005   26.4   .243   15.2   9.2   8.4
Bos   1987   McHale   3060   24.0   .232   14.8   5.2   5.5

Uta   1990   Malone   3122   27.2   .245   15.9   6.6   6.7
Uta   1990   Stockton 2915   23.9   .238   14.5   4.2   4.5

Uta   1991   Malone   3302   24.8   .225   15.5   5.8   6.4
Uta   1991   Stockton 3103   23.4   .217   14.0   4.4   5.0

Uta   1995   Malone   3126   25.1   .212   13.8   5.8   6.1
Uta   1995   Stockton 2867   23.3   .233   13.9   5.5   5.4

tm     yr     duo      min   PER    ws/48   WS    BPM  VORP
SAS   2000   Duncan   2875   24.8   .218   13.1   6.1   5.8
SAS   2000   Robinson 2557   24.6   .238   12.7   5.5   4.8

LAL   2001   Shaq     2422   29.7   .262   13.2   7.0   5.4
LAL   2001   Kobe     3063   23.2   .199   12.7   4.4   4.9

SAS   2001   Duncan   3174   23.8   .200   13.2   5.4   5.9
SAS   2001   Robinson 2371   23.7   .246   12.2   5.5   4.4

LAL   2003   Kobe     3401   26.2   .210   14.9   6.4   7.1
LAL   2003   Shaq     2525   29.5   .250   13.2   6.3   5.2

LAL   2004   Kobe     2447   23.7   .210   10.7   5.7   4.7
LAL   2004   Shaq     2464   24.4   .192    9.9   5.4   4.6

Mia   2005   Shaq     2492   27.0   .211   11.0   5.6   4.7
Mia   2005   Wade     2974   23.1   .177   11.0   4.4   4.8

Phx   2006   Marion   3263   23.6   .214   14.5   5.3   6.0
Phx   2006   Nash     2796   23.3   .212   12.3   3.7   4.0

SAS   2007   Duncan   2726   26.1   .230   13.1   7.1   6.2
SAS   2007   Ginobili 2060   24.1   .246   10.6   7.2   4.7

SAS   2008   Ginobili 2299   24.3   .232   11.1   8.1   5.8
SAS   2008   Duncan   2651   24.4   .201   11.1   4.7   4.4

tm     yr     duo      min   PER    ws/48   WS    BPM  VORP
LAL   2011   Gasol    3037   23.3   .232   14.7   5.3   5.5
LAL   2011   Kobe     2779   23.9   .178   10.3   3.8   4.0

Mia   2011   LeBron   3063   27.3   .244   15.6   8.6   8.1
Mia   2011   Wade     2823   25.6   .218   12.8   5.9   5.6

OKC   2011   Durant   3038   23.6   .189   12.0   2.9   3.7
OKC   2011  Westbrook 2847   23.6   .159    9.4   5.0   5.0

LAC   2012   Paul     2181   27.0   .278   12.6   7.9   5.4
LAC   2012   Griffin  2392   23.4   .185    9.2   4.1   3.6

Mia   2013   LeBron   2877   31.6   .322   19.3  11.6   9.8
Mia   2013   Wade     2391   24.0   .192    9.6   3.9   3.5

OKC   2013   Durant   3119   28.3   .291   18.9   7.7   7.6
OKC   2013  Westbrook 2861   23.9   .195   11.6   5.0   5.0

LAC   2014   Paul     2171   25.9   .270   12.2   7.4   5.1
LAC   2014   Griffin  2863   23.9   .205   12.2   4.6   4.7

OKC   2016  Westbrook 2749   27.6   .245   14.0  10.0   8.2
OKC   2016   Durant   2578   28.2   .270   14.5   7.9   6.4

Some legendary duos barely make the cut, some did it just once, and a bunch never made it: Jordan/Pippen, Kareem/Magic, Shaq/Penny ...

I did an xyz = (PER*WS/48*WS*VORP)^(1/4), and the best 2nd-best players on a team are:

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tm     yr    #2 man    xyz
OKC   2016   Durant    5.15
LAL   2003   Shaq      4.75
Bos   1987   McHale    4.61
Uta   1995   Stockton  4.49
Mia   2011   Wade      4.47
Uta   1990   Stockton  4.39
SAS   2000   Robinson  4.34

It's not really very close.
When your best player can sit down, and you still (almost always) have the best player on the court, that's pretty good.

[Mike G]

Postseason best #2 guys since 1991:

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year   tm     #1       #2       PER   ws/48   WS   BPM    xyz
2001   LAL   Shaq     Kobe     25.0   .260   3.8   7.3   3.94
2009   LAL   Kobe     Gasol    21.9   .221   4.3   6.5   3.68
2011   Mia   Wade     LeBron   23.7   .198   3.8   7.8   3.66
1999   SAS   Duncan  Robinson  23.3   .243   3.0   7.9   3.63
2010   LAL   Gasol    Kobe     24.7   .190   3.7   5.9   3.49

1991   Chi   Jordan   Pippen   22.0   .197   2.9   7.8   3.34
1996   Chi   Jordan   Pippen   19.4   .195   3.0   9.3   3.32
2005   SAS   Ginobili Duncan   24.9   .191   3.5   4.1   3.31
1992   Por   Drexler  Porter   19.5   .202   3.7   5.2   3.23
1992   Chi   Jordan   Pippen   20.1   .168   3.1   7.5   3.16

2009   Den   Billups  Carmelo  24.3   .201   2.6   5.0   3.16
2004   Det  B Wallace Billups  18.8   .203   3.7   4.2   3.13
2014   SAS   Duncan   Leonard  18.7   .191   2.9   6.6   3.07
1995   Hou   Olajuwon Drexler  21.1   .167   3.0   5.7   3.04
1998   Chi   Jordan   Pippen   19.5   .166   2.9   7.0   3.02

http://bkref.com/tiny/DABSN
With WS a component of xyz, minutes are a big qualifier. All were Finalists, except Billups/Carmelo Nuggets of '09.
Rip Hamilton '04 ranked #3 for the Pistons, at 3.02