 Here are 5 NBA duos that we wish we could have seen play for longer. I hope you guys are all doing okay considering everything going on. Be sure to stay safe. Hopefully this video gives you something to watch whilst you're in quarantine. But most of all, I hope you're doing something productive and having a good day, getting your mind off everything that's going on. And hopefully this video brings you back in time. We're going to look at a few NBA duos in this video that we wish could have played for longer. These are teammates that we saw and expected them to win a championship. Some of them did. Some of them didn't. Either way, they were exciting, they were fun to watch and they were enjoyable. So if you guys could support me, I'd greatly appreciate if you guys could hit that like button and let's aim for 3000 likes for the next video. If you're new around here and you enjoy NBA content every single week, why not hit that subscribe button? It takes one second of your time and you get NBA content every single week. With that said, let's get on to the video. At number 5, Carmelo Anthony and Alan Iverson This duo only played together from 2006 until 2008, but it was really only one true season in the 2007-08 season that they played together. A very short stint together, whilst Alan Iverson was still a top player in the league, after being around 6 years removed from leading his team to the NBA finals in Philadelphia, and Carmelo Anthony was starting to find his rhythm in the league, as he was one of the elite scorers in the league. On paper, this duo seemed as though they'd be prolific on the offensive end, considering at the time of the trade, Alan Iverson was the NBA's number 2 leading scorer, and his new teammate, Carmelo Anthony, was the number 1 scorer, and boy, they were fun to watch, but at the end of the day, that's all it really was, an offensive highlight reel every single night. As a team, the Nuggets never truly clicked, even with the talented roster in Alan Iverson, Carmelo Anthony, JR Smith, Kenyon Martin, Marcus Canvey, they had an A off the bench, it was just that of an experiment, and ultimately it just didn't work out. The one knock on Alan Iverson was that he dominated the ball too much, he played almost at too fast of a speed if that was even possible, because in the system that they ran, he didn't fit the system at all, and the other knock was that he didn't get his teammates involved enough. The thing about Alan Iverson though is that we always said, if he just had one other superstar on that 76ers team that made the NBA finals, what could have been? He obviously had Decayme Mutambo, but that was towards the end of his career, and Iverson just like LeBron in 2007 was the one man star, he was the guy, he was the leader and the team was built around him, but at the end of the day he just didn't have enough help. That's why when he finally had Carmelo Anthony on his new team, fans were intrigued, people said if they could make this work, it could be a scary force in the league. A little bit like the Russell Westbrook and James Harden duo we saw enter the league this season. But soon enough people realised, as exciting as this duo was, it wasn't translating to wins. The Nuggets won 50 games in the first year with Iverson, and then they got swept by the Lakers in the first round. Once they traded Iverson for Chancey Billups in Detroit, it was a better fit for the Denver Nuggets. Winning really became something that seemed likely at that point. The Nuggets finally made the Western Conference finals, but as for the duo between Iverson and Mellow, had they stuck with Iverson and Carmelo Anthony had one more year to mature? They may have seen a change, but it was smart that the Denver Nuggets traded Iverson at the time they did because it clearly wasn't working out in the moment. The experiment between Alan Iverson and Denver just didn't work out, but I do wish they would have played just a little bit longer together, a lot can happen in the span of 2-3 years. But did this duo break up too soon? Probably not, but from a fans perspective it would have been fun to watch these two play for a longer amount of time. Number 4, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant I think we all knew that this one would be on the list. Obviously I could say this about any duo, I would love to see them play together for longer, but this one is the exception. Because obviously they nearly played together for around a decade, but even then it just wasn't enough time. One more year in my opinion that would have been the peak. But because they were so close to defeating the Warriors and then Durant left to join the Warriors, I wish they could have just played for one more season together. And we all know that the breakup destroyed any chance of the Oklahoma City Thunder winning a championship anytime soon. Without Kevin Durant it was just too tough in a stacked Western conference and obviously with Katie joining the Warriors, it made it basically impossible for Russell Westbrook to ever reach the NBA Finals. Had the Oklahoma City Thunder stayed together, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant as a dynamic duo, it's hard to imagine that the Oklahoma City Thunder don't have a championship right now. They would have competed with the Golden State Warriors in the Western Conference Finals every year. And despite the Warriors being a great team, I think the Oklahoma City Thunder could have definitely taken a series over the last four seasons and definitely made an NBA Finals with a chance to win it all. I mean, you just look at what Russell Westbrook has done over the last few seasons, what Kevin Durant has done with his game and he's become an even better player if that was somehow possible. And look, Kevin Durant probably wouldn't have the two rings that he has right now. But he'd be an NBA champion with a team that he played his entire career for, which I think would carry more weight than two rings in Golden State. Look, I'm not saying that Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant are a championship duo for sure. No one knows this for certain. But it's something that seems so likely when they were so young. So to see them develop even more, plus being that close to beating the Golden State Warriors the year before Kevin Durant left him, with just a few more made shots in the Western Conference Finals that year, the Oklahoma City Thunder would have made the NBA Finals. Not to mention just how fun was this duo. I wish they'd stayed together for longer. I think we all do. Looking back, we may never see a duo quite like this. Arguably the most athletic point guard ever and a seven foot scorer who could shoot from anywhere on the court. It was just scary. Number three, Shaq and Penny Hardaway. It's crazy to think that the Orlando Magic received back-to-back picks. When they drafted Shaquille O'Neal, they knew he was going to dominate the league immediately. I think everybody knew that. But then being able to draft Chris Webber the next year, who then they would trade away to the Golden State Warriors for rights to Penny Hardaway, who Shaq insisted they draft, Shaq believed they would be a dynamic duo that would take over the league. And he was right. The belief was that Shaq and Penny would be the second coming of Magic Johnson and Karim Abdul-Jabbar. And the young duo in their first year together made the playoffs for the very first time. They finished as the fourth seed, only to lose in the first round to the fifth seed Indiana Pacers. But it was a promising first year together. But the season after, Shaq's third and Penny's second, Shaq had led the league in scoring that year and Penny Hardaway was touted the next Michael Jordan. In fact, Michael expressed to a lot of people that he had the utmost respect for my game. That was a quote by Penny Hardaway. Eventually the greatest of all time and the prodigy would meet on the biggest stage in the 1995 NBA playoffs. And that's when for the first and only time in his NBA career, Michael Jordan wore another player's sneakers. And they were Penny Hardaways. That's how much respect MJ had for the young and upcoming Penny Hardaway. Nevertheless, in just their second season, the Orlando Magic had beaten Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. MJ was coming out of retirement that season, but he was still playing very well. And it wasn't the Chicago Bulls that had nobody. This is Scotty Pippen, Michael Jordan and Phil Jackson. It was still a great team that the Orlando Magic were facing off against and it was in their second season. They made it to the NBA finals and they lost to a tough Houston Rockets squad. But once again, it was only their second season together with so much promise and so much potential. Many fans from around the league were scared of what was to come in the next and upcoming years. But as we all know, it was their third season together that was basically the beginning of the team's downfall. Shaq and Penny had a little bit of a rivalry going on between endorsement deals and being the leader of the team. And if you wanna learn more about that, I highly recommend watching the Orlando Magic 30 for 30 on ESPN, which explains everything. But it did cause a rift between the two players. The team did make the playoffs again, but got swept by an even better Chicago Bulls team this time and it was the end of it. The tension between Shaq and Penny, the tension between the Orlando Magic and Shaquille O'Neal and they didn't pay him what he wanted, which even though he did win three NBA championships with the Lakers, he says he does regret leaving the Orlando Magic and Penny Hardaway. You'll regret it, I'll never fully answer it. I regret it sometimes. Is this where I started? You should have stayed. Now we had a young Fabrician, we really do. It was a shame that we got two on the park. You know what I know now, I'll just stay. Even though Penny Hardaway played more injury riddled seasons than healthy seasons, it was somewhat of a surprise to hear Shaq say that. But looking back, this team was that good and we wished they could have played for longer. Number two, Hakeem Elajuwon and Clyde Drexler. To think that if this duo had just played together just a few seasons earlier, because Clyde Drexler was one of the best players in the 90s and had MJ not dominated the way that he did, Clyde Drexler probably would have been more respected in today's NBA. Because when you really think about it, in the 1990s, only three teams won NBA championships. Well, technically four, but that's if you count Detroit at the start of the era and San Antonio at the end of the era. But basically when MJ was winning championships, it was all MJ and it was the Houston Rockets. The Pistons at the start of the decade before Jordan really emerged, they'd won an NBA championship, but once Jordan emerged, it was all MJ and the Chicago Bulls. MJ retired and then it was the Rockets' turn who went back to back. Jordan came back and then it was the Bulls once again three straight times to end the era because he retired. Then the Spurs won the NBA championship at the end of the era, but for basically most of the 1990s and that entire decade, it was Michael Jordan the Chicago Bulls and Hakeem Elijah won and the Houston Rockets. So really the Bulls and Rockets dominated the 1990s. Those were the two teams of the 1990s that saw the most success. So if you can imagine only Hakeem Elijah won and Clyde Drexler joining forces earlier, you could have seen them play for longer, it's so interesting to think about. This duo is just one duo that I just wish we could have seen play for longer. To think that the Houston Rockets won a championship the year before Clyde Drexler got there and then when they got him the next year during the trade deadline, the Rockets weren't even that great of a team. They finished the regular season with a record of 47-35, which only placed the Rockets six seed out of the eight playoff teams in the Western Conference. But because of the trade, Drexler and Hakeem dominated the playoffs and helped propel the team to a second consecutive NBA championship in 1995, sweeping the Orlando Magic and in his third NBA finals appearance, Clyde Drexler averaged 21 and a half points, nine and a half rebounds and nearly seven assists per game. So once again, have the two players played earlier? Could they have beaten the Chicago Bulls at any point and broken the sweet six for six run that the Bulls had? Drexler was already a two-time NBA finals player before he won his championship and that was without a player like Hakeem Elijah won. So it was just a thought to really think about. And lastly, at number one, LeBron James and Kari Irving. To really think that this duo only played three seasons together is overall just sad. One championship in three years isn't bad at all, but when you think about it today and you look at the league right now as it currently stands, what really would have happened if Kari Irving stayed in Cleveland in 2017? They'd probably still be a duo in the NBA today and LeBron wouldn't be a Laker. Instead, he'd be playing in the Eastern Conference with Kari Irving on a Cleveland Cavaliers team making even more consecutive NBA finals. And when you really think about all the injuries that the Cleveland Cavaliers had in the NBA finals with Kari Irving and his knee, Kevin Love and his concussions, look, we can imagine and debate and argue what would have happened in 2015 in the NBA finals. Had Kari Irving and Kevin Love stayed healthy? It would have been so close, but that's obviously a what if scenario. So to think if Kari never left and LeBron James stayed together, they probably would have been in another finals last season. And they probably would have won another NBA finals considering that we saw what happened with DeMarcus' cousins, Kevin Durant and Clay Thompson all going down. Obviously, this is just a bunch of what is some hypotheticals that we will never truly know. But what we do know is that we wish we could have seen this duo play for longer. This was one of my favorite duos of all time. Such a fun duo to watch and incredibly skilled. Not to mention the clutchness of this duo was just insane. Kari could hit a shot at any moment. LeBron James could do it all. And it would have been so exciting to see today. LeBron James ending his career in Cleveland. It still may happen, but it would have been nicer with Kari Irving. With that said, let me know what you think about these duos. Obviously, this was not in any order, but these were the duos that I wish we could have seen play for longer. If you enjoy the video, I greatly appreciate it. If you guys could drop a like to show your support. Subscribe if you're new for NBA content every single week. And I will catch you in my next one. I am Alex. Peace.