As potent as those guard pairings were, they weren’t necessarily units that created a lot of anticipation across the league when their unions were initially constructed.
Indeed, there have been a couple of guard tandems that garnered a lot of attention when they were formed because they had the potential to go down as the one of the best guard pairings in the history of the league.
Think of Jason Kidd and Penny Hardaway in Phoenix, Gary Payton and Kobe Bryant with the Lakers, Jason Kidd and Vince Carter in New Jersey and lastly, the flamboyant pairing of Walt “Clyde” Frazier and Earl Monroe in New York; from the moment these groups were formed, they instantly gave their fans championship aspirations and rightfully so. Other than Hardaway, a case can be made that all of the players listed above will one day occupy a spot in the Basketball Hall of Fame.
Fast forward to the present, and think about the moment it was announced that Steve Nash would join the Los Angeles Lakers and play in the backcourt next to Kobe Bryant: They had the potential to not only trump the previous duos but also to possibly become the best guard tandem ever.
Heck, they still do.
Between them, the soon-to-be Hall of Fame players have 22 All-Star selections, 13 All-NBA first-team selections, five assist titles, two scoring titles, four NBA All-Star Game MVPs and three NBA MVP awards.
Individually, an argument can easily be made that Nash and Bryant have been models of excellence at their respective positions for the past decade of NBA basketball...
Article Source: Bleacher Report - Los Angeles Lakers
