The Greatest NBA Backcourts Ever

Ray Marcano ranks his top five all-time NBA backcourts.

Good morning! Hope everyone is enjoying a few days away from the regular season grind. To commemorate two Knicks starting in the All-Star game for the first time in half a century, the great Ray Marcano penned a special piece looking back at the last Knick duo to accomplish the feat.

The Greatest NBA Backcourts Ever

by Ray Marcano

In 1975, Walt Frazier and Earl Monroe became the first New York Knicks teammates to start the NBA All-Star game, a feat met with as much indifference as rats crawling into a New York sewer.

The news story announcing the Frazier/Monroe accomplishment appeared on page seven of section S of the New York Times --- in one, skinny column surrounded by news about tennis and dogs.

At the January 14, 1975 All-Star game, Frazier scored 30 points in the East’s 108-102 win, and he was named the game’s MVP.¹

The Times’ game recap --- with no quotes --- appeared on page 21, with stories about the New York Islanders tying the St. Louis Blues and the Los Angeles Rams having no interest in Joe Namath getting bigger headlines. The story did, however, note the empty seats in what was a “subdued” (i.e., boring) contest.

Jalen Brunson and Karl-Anthony Towns deserved all the love for becoming the second set of Knicks teammates to start an All-Star game, and they go tit across the media landscape. Look familiar?

The Frazier/Monroe backcourt was a force in the NBA in the mid-1970s. The Knicks stole Monroe from the Washington Bullets, trading reserves Mike Riordan, Dave Stallworth, and cash for the league’s best one-on-on player. Washington had little choice in trading Monroe, who was suspended after he demanded a trade during a salary dispute.

With this year’s All-Star game complete, I started thinking about the lack of interest in the 1975 contest and how fans missed seeing one of the era’s greatest backcourt duos play together.

And then I wondered --- where would Frazier and Monroe rank among the greatest duos ever?

Determining “best” in NBA history can be daunting since the game has changed steadily over the decades. Establishing criteria helps, so for this exercise, I’m using:

1. Talent

2. How did the players complement/play off each other?

3. Did the backcourt lead their teams to postseason success?

4. Did they play multiple seasons together?

5. Intangibles

There are at least a half-dozen backcourts that could be called “best ever” and a few that might seem obvious but fall short. These are my top five all-time NBA backcourts.

1. Steph Curry and Klay Thompson, Golden State Warriors

It’s hard to argue against the Splash Brothers, given all of their individual and collective accomplishments.

Curry (6’2”) is, arguably, the best pure shooter of all time and with Thompson, the greatest backcourt shooting tandem ever. Their skills perfectly fit the three-point era since both are long-range threats who can duck and drive on closeouts.

And they’re perfect complements. The 6’5, 200-pound Thompson has long been an excellent defender, and has the size and athleticism to guard the two or the three. Curry seemed to instinctively know where he was at all times on the court. I mean, this is unfair:

The Splash Brothers led the Golden State dynasty that went to the Finals five-straight years (2014-15 to 2018-19) and then helped them to another championship in 2022. They also led the Warriors to the best-ever regular season record in of 73-9 in 2015-16.

They would have been great in any era, an important intangible. In years past, Curry would have ben considered a big guard and Thompson likely would have played small forward. But there’s no reason to believe their skills wouldn’t translate. I went back and forth on who should have the top spot and I nearly went old school with…