Top Five "Batman & Robin" Duos In NBA History
Tevin Kelly (Left) & Travis Gabbidon are a top Ultimate Hoops “Batman & Robin: duo. Who are the NBA’s best?
EDITOR’S NOTE: There are hundreds of “Batman & Robin” duos in the Ultimate Hoops League. But who is the best Robin sidekick in NBA history? UH contributor Roger Johnson shares his list.
Basketball fans everywhere are forever indebted to ESPN for the early release of The Last Dance, a documentary that provides an inside look at the Bulls dynasty of the 90s.
It has filled a much needed void during the “Shelter in Place” world we are living in. Rightfully so, Michael Jordan is the centerpiece of the story but the first few episodes have also shone a spotlight on how important Scottie Pippen was to the Bulls' success.
As Jordan notes, “Whenever they speak Michael Jordan, they should speak Scottie Pippen. I didn’t win without him, that’s why I consider him my best teammate of all time.”
Scottie was the Robin to Michael Jordan’s Batman. While this documentary is certainly adding fuel to the fire for fans that view Jordan as the G.O.A.T. but what about Pippen?
Is he the greatest Robin of all time?
Let’s take a look at where he ranks. For the purposes of this discussion, we are only going to look at dynamic duos that were teammates on at least 3 NBA championship teams. This recognizes sustained success and eliminates one-hit-wonders like LeBron James/Kyrie Irving, Paul Pierce/Kevin Garnett, Wilt Chamberlain/Jerry West, and Moses Malone/Julius Erving.
#5 - Sam Jones (Batman - Bill Russell)
Given the duration of the Celtics dynasty under Russell’s leadership (11 titles in 13 years), it was difficult to identify just a single Robin, so I have chosen two - the first is Sam Jones. While Jones was part of 10 championship teams, he became Russell’s primary sidekick (he gets the slight edge over John Havlicek - let’s consider Hondo to be the Alfred of this era) for the final 5 titles (1964, 1965, 1966, 1968, and 1969).
During those 5 championship seasons, Jones averaged 21.3 points, 4.7 rebounds, and 2.8 assists. He was an all star in 4 of those seasons and was all- NBA second team in both 1965 and 1966.
#4 - Bob Cousy (Batman - Bill Russell)
This is where things get a little tricky, Cousy was Russell’s primary running mate for 6 championships (1957, 1959, 1960, 1961, 1962, and 1963) and it can be argued that he played the Batman role during the first championship season in 1956-57 when he was named the league's MVP.
He definitely settled into the Robin role after that and during his 6 title runs with Russell, he averaged 17.7 points, 4.2 rebounds, and 8.0 assists. He was an all star and earned all-NBA recognition each year.
#3 - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (Batman - Magic Johnson)
Ok, stop the laughter for those of you who read my last article where I made the case for Kareem being the G.O.A.T. How can that be possible, if he is now being considered a “Robin”?
First, remember, the G.O.A.T. argument was based on his entire body of work from high school to the NBA. Secondly, he was 32 years old and in his 11th NBA season when Magic entered the league. They teamed up to win 5 championships (1980, 1982, 1985, 1987, and 1988).
During those championship seasons, Kareem averaged 20.6 points, 8.0 rebounds, 3.0 assists, and 2.1 blocks. He was an all star each season, named all-NBA twice, and was the Finals MVP in 1985. And similar to the start of the Cousy/Russell relationship - Kareem played the Batman role during Magic’s rookie season of 1979-80 when he was named the league’s MVP.
#2 - Kobe Bryant (Batman - Shaquille O’Neal)
\While Kobe eventually became Batman on two Laker championship teams, Shaq undoubtedly held that distinction during their run to three straight NBA titles (2000, 2001, and 2002). Kobe, thanks to his Mamba Mentality, likely wouldn’t ever have admitted that he played Robin to Shaq’s Batman, which presumably played a major role in the tension and ultimate breakup of this powerful combination.
If they had stayed together, there is little doubt that they would have won several more championships and gone down in history as the greatest duo to ever play the game.
All that being said, Kobe was a great Robin. He averaged 25.2 points, 5.8 rebounds, 5.1 assists, and 1.6 steals during the 3-peat seasons. He was an all star, all-NBA, and all defensive team for all 3 seasons.
#1 - Scottie Pippen (Batman - Michael Jordan)
Yes, Pippen is the greatest Robin of all time. It was a close call over Kobe but Pippen gets the nod for a couple of reasons.
First, he played the Robin role on 6 championship teams and secondly, and perhaps most importantly, he always stayed true to the role. He relished (enjoyed, even!) being the best supporting actor and had no illusions of trying to tug on Superman’s (mixing up my comics here) cape.
During the Bull's pair of 3-peats (1991-1993 and 1996 - 1998), Pippen was one of the league’s best all around players. He averaged 19.4 points, 6.9 rebounds, 6.2 assists, 2.0 steals, and nearly 1 block a game and was, by all accounts, the best perimeter defender in the league. Not bad for a guy who started his college career as a student manager at an NAIA school.
And who knows what he might have accomplished if Jerry Krause would have paid him more.
Honorable mention Robins: Kevin McHale (Batman - Larry Bird), Tony Parker (Batman - Tim Duncan), Jim Pollard (Batman - George Mikan). Steph Curry and Klay Thompson do not make the list because with all due respect to the Splash Brothers, Kevin Durant was Batman for 2 of their 3 championships.