10 Most Feared Dynamic Duos in Sports Right Now
"Life's better with company. Everyone needs a co-pilot."
George Clooney delivers the line in Up in the Air (NFSW language), a 2009 film about a man who travels around the country firing people for a living. Although hypocritical advice from someone starting to grow tired of his isolated existence, it's every bit as true for athletes as for a fictional character having cold feet before his wedding.
No sports star has ever truly climbed the mountaintop of a team sport without a sidekick. Babe Ruth had Lou Gehrig. Joe Montana had Jerry Rice. Michael Jordan had Scottie Pippen.
Individual excellence drives sports narratives, but no legend has ascended to immortality without help. That's because a culture in awe of big-name stars ironically judges them by team success. Even LeBron James faced hefty criticism before winning rings on a superteam—which also initially sparked criticism until the winning part happened.
Luckily for these guys, they have a partner in crime to make life much better.
Honorable Mentions
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Patrick Kane and Artemi Panarin
Patrick Kane won last season's Hart Trophy with help from Artemi Panarin, an undrafted rookie who claimed the Calder Trophy with 30 goals and 47 assists. The Chicago Blackhawks veteran and newcomer should keep benefiting from the other's presence on the ice.
Chris Paul and Blake Griffin
In addition to breaking his hand, Blake Griffin hurt his reputation by punching a team employee in January. The star forward played 35 games for the Los Angeles Clippers last season before a sea of injuries ousted them from the first round.
Having yet to reach the Western Conference Finals, this 27-year-old might not last in Los Angeles if he and Chris Paul don't take the next step in the 2016-17 season.
Max Scherzer and Stephen Strasburg
The Washington Nationals aces would have made the cut if not for Stephen Strasburg recently going on the disabled list with an elbow injury. He and Max Scherzer have combined to collect 434 strikeouts.
Jose Altuve and Carlos Correa
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If this list celebrated trios, George Springer would receive love for his .814 OPS. Alex Bregman is also on the verge of turning the Houston Astros' offensive headliners into a quadrant. Despite a dreadful start, the rookie now holds a .487 slugging percentage.
For now, let's focus on Houston's amazing double-play combination.
After earning American League Rookie of the Year honors with 22 homers, 14 steals and a 3.4 FanGraphs WAR in 99 games, shortstop Carlos Correa entered 2016 as a trendy MVP choice. The 5'6" Jose Altuve instead stands tall as a top contender.
The second baseman has jumped from All-Star to superstar, hitting .337/.398/.543 with a career-high 23 home runs and 6.4 WAR. His power outburst is even more amazing considering he went deep a combined 21 times over his first four seasons.
It speaks to Correa's debut that a 21-year-old shortstop sporting an .821 OPS and 4.5 WAR has underwhelmed most onlookers. He's a future superstar and current star keeping the Astros in playoff contention.
Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin
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No NHL duo attacks the net like Jamie Benn and Tyler Seguin, who nourished the Dallas Stars' league-leading offense with 41 and 33 goals, respectively, last season.
Benn, a 27-year-old left winger, finished behind Alex Ovechkin and Patrick Kane in the scoring ledger. Despite missing 10 games and falling four goals short of the previous season's tally, Sequin placed 10th.
"[Seguin] you know, he's a great guy, a guy who likes to have some fun but is also very serious about the game and winning," Benn told Bleacher Report's Adrian Dater last December "He doesn't have a smile on his face unless we win the game. I think he's helped me develop my game as a player, and I like to think I have with his too."
That's the definition of a fruitful pairing, one that guided Dallas to the Western Conference's top seed. Although the Stars suffered a second-round exit to the St. Louis Blues, Benn and Seguin will keep them in prominent contention this season.
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Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski
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Or maybe Bill Belichick and Jimmy Garoppolo should take this spot instead.
Without Tom Brady and Rob Gronkowski, the New England Patriots still opened the 2016 season with a 23-21 upset over the Arizona Cardinals, a healthy Super Bowl favorite. New England's brilliant coaching staff deserves credit, but don't use this one win to discount the greatest quarterback and tight end tandem ever.
Since drafting Gronkowski in 2010, the Patriots have won at least 12 games each season. His four seasons playing 15 or 16 games represent four of Brady's five best years—the outlier, of course, his 50-touchdown, 16-0 campaign—in terms of quarterback rating.
Back in 2011, Gronkowski set the single-season records for most receiving yards (1,327) and touchdowns (17) for a tight end. Brady also had an OK year, accumulating a career-high 5,235 passing yards.
In addition to the tight end's 65 touchdowns over 80 career regular-season games, he has already set a postseason record with nine touchdowns in as many contests. Brady, meanwhile, places fourth in all-time passing scores (428) after Drew Brees broke the tie last weekend.
Undoubtedly the greatest current tight end, Gronkowski can cement his status as the best of all time by staying relatively healthy without declining. That Brady guy isn't bad either.
Kris Bryant and Anthony Rizzo
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Mike Trout remains the best player in baseball, but his mediocre teammates will again rob him of winning the American League MVP award. Kris Bryant, the National League's premier candidate, may not win because of how great his teammates are.
The Chicago Cubs hold a commanding 17-game lead in the NL Central. As a result, some voters may determine no one Cubs player is the most valuable if none of them is indispensable to their dominance.
Hopefully this flawed thinking doesn't cost last year's Rookie of the Year winner the award he deserve. Bryant is hitting .298/.393/.569 while playing tremendous defense at third base and left field. His 7.8 WAR, per FanGraphs, leads the NL, and his 37 homers ties fellow third baseman Nolan Arenado for the league lead.
Yet he's not the only star among a Cubs infield, all four of whom were voted into the All-Star Game. Across the diamond, first baseman Anthony Rizzo is having another incredible year under the radar.
The 27-year-old lefty is batting .291/.388/.546, and his next long ball will cement his third straight 30-homer season. While he's not a focal member of the MVP discussion, he justifies a spot on every writer's top-10 ballot. Some might slide Bryant down as a result.
With Bryant and Rizzo anchoring their lineup, the Cubs will enter October as an overwhelming World Series favorite.
Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto
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Several other ace tandems (Chris Sale and Jose Quintana, Scherzer and Strasburg, any two of the Cubs' top three starters) could have nabbed this real estate, but Madison Bumgarner and Johnny Cueto received the narrow edge.
If the San Francisco Giants maintain their spot in the National League Wild Card Game, they can trot out one of these two tested aces (preferably Bumgarner). If they go any further, the duo—combined with Jeff Samardzija and Matt Moore—will give them a solid chance of sustaining their even-year magic.
Along with ranking No. 5 and 6 in innings pitched, Bumgarner (199.2) and Cueto (198.1) have corralled ERAs of 2.61 and 2.90, respectively. The former, who has tallied 226 strikeouts, should factor prominently into the NL Cy Young Award discussion.
Last year, Cueto recovered from a dreadful American League Championship Series showing (2 IP, 8 ER) to slay the New York Mets in a complete-game World Series gem. The previous year, Bumgarner carried the Giants to a title with a clutch showing for the ages.
After allowing one combined run in Game 1 and 5 victories, he emerged from the bullpen on short rest to toss five scoreless innings in a Game 7 triumph. His presence will terrify any October opponent, especially with another stud following the southpaw.
Sidney Crosby and Evgeni Malkin
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Since Evgeni Malkin joined then-teenager Sidney Crosby last decade, the Pittsburgh Penguins have made 10 consecutive playoff appearances. Earlier this year, they won their second Stanley Cup crown of that tenure.
Although the duo each went eight consecutive games without scoring, Crosby and Malkin finished postseason play with 19 and 18 points, respectively. Down 3-2 to the Tampa Bay Lightning in the Eastern Conference Final, Malkin essentially guaranteed a Game 6 victory. He notched three assists over the ensuing wins, while Crosby backed up his teammate's declaration with a Game 6 goal and assist.
The center later received the Conn Smythe Trophy for his four Stanley Cup assists.
It's far from a two-man show in Pittsburgh. The Penguins' HBK line shined throughout the playoffs, and defender Kris Letang was every bit as vital to their success as Crosby and Malkin.
Yet those two rank No. 12 and 21, with Crosby occupying the higher spot, on the NHL's all-time scoring leaderboard. Malkin should climb into the top 20 next season, while Crosby vaults into the top 10.
Stephen Curry and Kevin Durant
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This is a tricky one. Although they fell short in the NBA Finals, the Golden State Warriors won a record 73 regular-season games behind a terrific trio. One can certainly argue Draymond Green meant more to the team's dominance than Klay Thompson, but Stephen Curry's backcourt mate fits better as a duo shattering shooting records.
They then added another MVP.
Kevin Durant suited up alongside Thompson and Green during the Summer Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, but he has yet to share the spotlight with Curry. Nobody can assert with full certainty that both other-worldly scorers will enjoy a harmonious relationship.
Let's take that risk. No NBA team has entered a season with two MVP winners since the San Antonio Spurs won the 2003 title with Tim Duncan and David Robinson. In his final season, The Admiral played a limited role as Duncan won his second straight MVP trophy.
Curry and Durant, who will both open the 2016-17 season at 28 years old, are in the prime of their Hall of Fame careers. Two of the top five—perhaps top three—players in the league will join forces alongside two more All-Stars.
Durant and Russell Westbrook would have frequented the list had he stayed with the Oklahoma City Thunder, but the superstar forward and back-to-back MVP are poised to obliterate league scoring records in California.
LeBron James and Kyrie Irving
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Months ago, Kyrie Irving had a ways to go before anyone would view him as a legitimate star sidekick to LeBron James.
Last year, James carried J.R. Smith and Matthew Dellavedova to a competitive NBA Finals clash against the Golden State Warriors. Although an explosive athlete and dynamic scorer, Irving had yet to prove to be a suitable replacement to Dwyane Wade.
He altered this perception during the postseason by averaging 25.2 points per game on an efficient 47.5 field-goal percentage. Although James remains the real MVP, the 24-year-old point guard etched his place in history by draining a game-winning three-pointer during the closing minute of the NBA Finals' Game 7.
Now he's a made man with room for growth next to the best in the world. Yet after the biggest shot of his life, he told USA Today's Jeff Zillgit that he wasn't concerned about earning everyone's approval.
"I don’t necessarily know if I was looking for validation,” Irving said. “I’m glad that we could make history, and we did it with a team that's very resilient and understood what was at stake for us. I’m glad that would be that one team in NBA history to come back from 3-1 in the Finals.”
Well, he got it anyway. After pulling off a comeback for the ages, James is poised to represent the Eastern Conference in the Finals for the seventh straight year. With Irving evolving into a top-tier star, the four-time MVP won't need to do it alone.
Tyrann Mathieu and Patrick Peterson
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With all due respect to Richard Sherman and Earl Thomas, Patrick Peterson and Tyrann Mathieu have eclipsed the Legion of Boom duo as the NFC West's most feared secondary tandem.
According to Pro Football Focus' Sam Monson, the Honey Badger ranked No. 10 in the site's 2015 player rankings despite missing the final two games with a torn ACL. Monson explained the high allotment:
"At the point he went down, he was enjoying a Defensive-Player-of-the-Year kind of season, and even with the two missed games, he finished on our shortlist for that award. Whether you view him as a safety (where he is listed by Arizona) or a cornerback (where he plays 67.5 percent of his snaps), you have to appreciate the sheer playmaking ability of a DB who has quickly become one of the league’s great matchup weapons on defense
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In 14 games, Mathieu deflected 17 passes and reeled in five interceptions. Per Pro Football Focus, he spent most of Sunday night's return as a slot cornerback against New England.
Along with the versatile 24-year-old, the Arizona Cardinals wield another secondary star in Patrick Paterson, who garnered a No. 19 rank in PFF 2015's rankings. As Monson noted, no receiver recorded more than 56 yards against him in a single game.
Their peers took notice, rating Peterson and Mathieu No. 18 and 28, respectively, in NFL Network's player rankings. Despite a surprising Week 1 loss, Cardinals remain a credible Super Bowl contender with these two studs shielding the secondary.
Ben Roethlisberger and Antonio Brown
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With Ben Roethlisberger feeding him the football, Antonio Brown is unstoppable.
Looking at Brown's 2015 game log, it's easy to identify the four games Roethlisberger missed for the Pittsburgh Steelers. Along with accounting for his three lowest reception and yards tallies, they're the only ones where he received fewer than 10 targets.
In their dozen games together, Brown compiled 119 receptions for 1,599 yards. His 136 catches tied Julio Jones for the second-most in a single season behind Marvin Harrison's 143, but he would have broken the mark had his quarterback not suffered a knee injury.
Had he sustained that 12-game pace over a full season with Roethlisberger, Brown also would have became the first wide receiver to ever eclipse 2,000 yards.
Their relationship goes both ways. After recording a career-high 4,952 passing yards in 2014, the Steelers quarterback averaged an NFL-high 328 yards per game last year. They picked things up on Monday night, when Brown opened 2016 with eight grabs for 126 yards and two touchdowns during their 38-16 win over Washington.
None of those gaudy numbers would be attainable without the other.
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