Butch Cassidy: Once they divide up, we take them, no trouble, right?
Sundance Kid: Maybe.
Butch Cassidy: Boy, for a gunman, you're one hell of a pessimist.
-Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid (1969)
Russell had Cousy and a cavalcade of other Hall of Famers. Kareem had Oscar and then Magic and Worthy. Larry had McHale and the Chief. Dr.J eventually got Moses. Jordan needed Scottie. Kobe got the gift of Shaq and then Pau. KG got together with the Truth and Jesus (with a little Rondo on the side). Lebron took his talents to south beach Wade and the Raptor.
To truly be successful in basketball, much like in life, everyone needs more than a little bit of help. It's always been the story in the NBA, that it's never just the star that wins the title.
Batman needs Robin to actually take down the evildoers and save Gotham City. Every hero needs a sidekick to help move the narrative along.
In honor of that, I've decided to take out the database to find and honor the best Wins Produced (1974 onward, NBA only) and Win Shares seasons (All NBA and ABA, yeah, you heard right) that were produced by players who were not the MVP for their team in terms of raw production (be it Wins Produced or Win Shares).In the interest of fairness, I've adjusted all win totals to an 82 game season and it's entirely possible I'll give you a lot of detail about the particulars of each particular member of this honor roll.
To the batwordprocessor! Let's start with the Wins Produced robins spanning every NBA season from the 1974 season on.
Win Produced Robin #30:David Robinson for 1998 San Antonio Spurs with 13.8 Wins Produced to Tim Duncan with 15
We start with the Admiral, David Robinson, playing Robin to the rookie season of perhaps the greatest power forward of all time in Tim Duncan and the rookie season of Hall of Fame Coach Gregg Popovich. They lost in the second round but have not missed the playoffs in the 16 seasons since. Oh and they hung a few banners along the way. We will see David again.
Win Produced Robin #29:Maurice Cheeks for 1982 Philadelphia 76ers with 13.9 Wins Produced to Julius Erving with 16
Maurice Cheeks (who's showing up a ton of times on this list) is severely, severely underrated. He should be a hall of famer. He might be getting penalized for not getting that ring as robin. He was really batgirl on the Sixers fo-fo-fo championship team in 1983. Here he's playing second fiddle to the Julius Erving and losing a hard fought Finals to the Kareem/Magic Lakers.
Win Produced Robin #28:Karl Malone for 1991 Utah Jazz with 14.1 Wins Produced to John Stockton with 19.7
The Mailman was a killer robin to all time Wins Produced Leader John Stockton (who would put up ungodly numbers in today's NBA I think but then again so would Malone). 54 Wins and a second round exit to a good Blazers team. We'll see these guys again.
Win Produced Robin #27:Jason Kidd for 2001 Phoenix Suns with 14.2 Wins Produced to Shawn Marion with 18
Late period Phoenix Jason Kidd playing Robin to a second season Matrix to the tune of 51 wins and a first round exit. Kidd would be gone next season to the Nets but interestingly both him and Matrix went on to individual success and teamed up on the all time let's get all the best active Wins Produced players without a ring team in Dallas that actually went and got a ring in 2011.
Win Produced Robin #26:Norm Nixon for 1979 Los Angeles Lakers with 14.4 Wins Produced to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar with 18.2
The last Lakers team before Magic got to town was actually a very good team. Nixon paired with Kareem's batman to the tune of 47-35 (about 54 wins for an 82 game season) and a second round exit. That's about on par with this year's Mavs. The forgotten thing with Nixon is that he continued to be the starter and hover around three thousand minutes thru three finals appearances and two rings all the way thru the end of his Laker tenure (even with Magic right there).
Win Produced Robin #25:Marques Johnson for 1981 Milwaukee Bucks with 14.5 Wins Produced to Sidney Moncrief with 16.3
Back in the day, the East was every bit as loaded as the West is today. Case in point, Marques Johnson paired with Moncrief to lead the Bucks to a 60-22 record. They went home in seven in the semis to a loaded 62-20 Sixers team that proceeded to lose in seven to another loaded 62-20 Celtics team that won the title. If we simulate that 10,000 times Milwaukee wins that title at least 15% of the time.
Win Produced Robin #24:Shawn Marion for 2005 Phoenix Suns with 14.5 Wins Produced to Steve Nash with 15.4
The best of all the D'Antoni Seven seconds or less suns teams featured prime Shawn Marion playing next to point legendary super Canadian Steve Nash. 62-20 and one of the most funs teams to watch ever. Got to the conference finals Then Joe Johnson got hurt and they went to San Antonio were western conference title hopefuls go to get their dreams crushed (in exquisite basketball beauty of course).
Win Produced Robin #23:Maurice Cheeks for 1986 Philadelphia 76ers with 14.7 Wins Produced to Charles Barkley with 20
Yes, that is Moe Cheeks music again.This time he's robin to second year Charles Barkley on perhaps the most loaded non-Finals team of all time. Seriously, let's go thru the roster: Cheeks, Chuck, Moses, Julius, Sedale Threatt, Bobby Jones. This team only won 54 games in the East that year. Damnnnn.
Win Produced Robin #22:Karl Malone for 1997 Utah Jazz with 14.8 Wins Produced to John Stockton with 18.6
You have to feel for Karl Malone and Stockton. This time they put up 64 wins and just ran into one of the all time great teams in the Finals. It's an accident of history that the Malone/Stockton combo never hoisted at least one trophy.
Win Produced Robin #21:Maurice Cheeks for 1981 Philadelphia 76ers with 14.8 Wins Produced to Julius Erving with 16.3
Moe Cheeks in his third stint on the list, second one as robin to Julius. 58 wins and a Finals loss to the Lakers. Why is Cheeks not in the Hall again?
Win Produced Robin #20:Dwyane Wade for 2011 Miami Heat with 14.8 Wins Produced to LeBron James with 17.2
Remember the first season of the Heatles? When who the alpha dog was in Miami was a legitimate question? Dwyane Wade played Robin in the regular season to Lebron but really sneakily took over in the playoffs. 58 Wins and a legendary Finals in which they ran into a team of all time robins (Kidd, Marion) and of course Dirk.
Win Produced Robin #19:Paul Pressey for 1986 Milwaukee Bucks with 15 Wins Produced to Sidney Moncrief with 15.5
With almost 8 assists per game, Paul Pressey was a point forward before being a point forward was cool. This was more of a Nightwing and Batman pairing with Moncrief in leading the Bucks to 57 wins a win over a loaded Sixers team in the playoffs and a conference finals loss (a sweep!) to the 86 Celtics. The East was destruction back in the day.
Win Produced Robin #18:Mookie Blaylock for 1997 Atlanta Hawks with 15 Wins Produced to Dikembe Mutombo with 16
I did not remember the 97 Hawks won 56 games. Mookie Blaylock was really good paired with young Mutombo. They were actually pretty good until they traded Mookie away after the strike. Another team that ran into the 97 Bulls in the Playoffs.
Win Produced Robin #17:David Thompson for 1978 Denver Nuggets with 15 Wins Produced to Bobby Jones with 15.2
Thompson and Jones led the Nuggets to 48 wins and a Conference Finals appearance in what was perhaps one of the stranger NBA playoffs. The Blazers were the best team in the league but Bill Walton got hurt. Those are the breaks of the game. Jones got to go to Philly, play in multiple finals and get a ring on that crazy loaded fo-fo-fo team. Thompson has actually been compared to Jordan in terms of physical gifts but his addiction demons crippled his career. Cocaine is a hell of a drug.
Win Produced Robin #16:Dennis Rodman for 1996 Chicago Bulls with 15.2 Wins Produced to Michael Jordan with 18.1
Dennis Rodman is an all time Player. Put him on a team with Michael Jordan that also features Scottie Pippen? You get a 72 win monster of a team that cruised to a title and has the best case for greatest team of all time.
Win Produced Robin #15:Hakeem Olajuwon for 1987 Houston Rockets with 15.3 Wins Produced to Rodney McCray with 20
You might be thinking: Hakeem as Robin? Who in the world is Rodney McCray? McCray was a proto Pippen/Kawhi Leonard type defensive wingman who did things that was the hidden star of that lost Rockets team that got wrecked by cocaine (say it with me :"It's a hell of a drug"). Go read the great Grantland Oral History of that team. They also traded McCray away.
Win Produced Robin #14:Terry Porter for 1990 Portland Trail Blazers with 15.5 Wins Produced to Clyde Drexler with 16
Terry Porter is a bit of a forgotten player. Terry Porter is one of the best ncaa division two players of all time. He paired with Drexler on a dominant, two times finalist team that just couldn't get a ring. This version of this duo for 59 wins and lost in the Finals to the Bad Boy Pistons. Great player who could never quite get that ring (even playing with Tim Duncan and David Robinson). Timing is everything.
Win Produced Robin #13:Chris Paul for 2014 Los Angeles Clippers with 15.7 Wins Produced to DeAndre Jordan with 18.4
To be fair, even State Farm could keep a banged up CP3 on the court all season. Paul nominally was the second banana to DeAndre Jordan this year but this was really driven by injury and caution on the Clippers part. A franchise record for wins at 57 and a second round exit to OKC that might as well have been officiated by Earl Hebner. What say you Doc?
Win Produced Robin #12:Karl Malone for 1990 Utah Jazz with 15.7 Wins Produced to John Stockton with 19.4
Karl Malone with his third turn playing Robin to Stockton on this chart. Chronologically, this was really the Jazz's arrival as a contender as it was their first season over 52 wins (55) even if they did lose to a pre-Barkley, Mayor Kevin Johnson led, conference Finals bound Suns team.
Win Produced Robin #11:Terry Porter for 1988 Portland Trail Blazers with 15.7 Wins Produced to Clyde Drexler with 17.9
Porter/Drexler number 2. A 53 win season that ended with a loss to a young, cinderella Stockton/Malone Frank Layden coached Jazz team that proceeded to lose a seven game series to LA (a series in which the Jazz had to play a game 1 Sunday matinee after playing a late game on Friday in Utah to beat the Blazers but the league office has zero bias).
Win Produced Robin #10:Chauncey Billups for 2006 Detroit Pistons with 15.9 Wins Produced to Ben Wallace with 18.6
Chauncey Billups put in his regular season magnum opus next to an in his prime Ben Wallace as the Pistons (coming off a Finals win and a Finals loss) romped to 64 wins in the East. They ran into Shaq and Wade in the Conference Finals to end their season early. Did I mention our old friend Flip Saunders was their coach?
Win Produced Robin #9:Kevin McHale for 1987 Boston Celtics with 16.3 Wins Produced to Larry Bird with 20.5
The last great Kevin McHale/Larry Bird season led to Celtics winning 59 games on their way to their fourth straight Finals. This season was bittersweet and doomed from the beginning though. McHale had his greatest season ever and then he broke his foot.
Sigh, you know what? I'm moving on.
Win Produced Robin #8:Shawn Marion for 2007 Phoenix Suns with 16.5 Wins Produced to Steve Nash with 17.7
Marion/Nash led D'Antoni Suns team number two on this list and really the best one. This was a 61 win team that was arguably the best team in the league and gave the eventual champion Spurs the biggest challenge in round number 2. You probably remember this series for Robert Horry putting a piledriver on Steve Nash in game 4 (here's the highlights) and the Angel of Stern coming down and swinging the series with a silly suspension on Amare.
Hey do you all remember when the league had a referee convicted for conspiracy to fix games? Here's some Tim Donaughy quotes about this series from an interview with chicago.now;
TD: I write in the book that there’s no doubt I feel the Phoenix Suns were the best team in in the league in 2007. And that whole series was officiated poorly, and I give the reasons in the book as to why I feel it was officiated poorly. And one of the reasons is that Tommy Nunez was the supervisor of officials in that series. And he had a dislike for the (Suns) owner Robert Sarver, and he enjoyed the lifestyle in San Antonio, and liked to get back in the next round of the playoffs and continue to go to San Antonio. So it was a situation that he was steering the series to San Antonio in tape sessions.
Donaghy on the scuffle between Horry, Nash, Spurs and Suns:
TD: Certainly that was mishandled with the subjectivity of the league office as to whether to suspend somebody for doing what they did. Look at what happened with the Miami-Dallas game. Do you think they would have suspended all those players for a game 7? Had there been a game 7, with all those players leaving the bench area the way they did. The rule clearly states you can’t leave the bench area to get involved in an altercation, whether the time out exists or not. In all reality, I doubt they would have suspended all of those players for a game 7. and I don’t think it was handled properly with Phoenix in 2007.
Moving on again.
Win Produced Robin #7:John Stockton for 1993 Utah Jazz with 16.6 Wins Produced to Karl Malone with 16.9
Karl Malone graduates to Batman for John Stockton! Jerry Sloan was proud. 47 wins and a first round loss to the Sonics is a bit ho-hum for them.
Win Produced Robin #6:Kareem Abdul-Jabbar for 1980 Los Angeles Lakers with 16.7 Wins Produced to Magic Johnson with 17.8
Kareem follows up his turn as Batman with Norm Nixon in 79 at 26 with a turn as Robin with rookie Earvin Magic Johnson. Kareem actually won the MVP that year and the Lakers won 60 games and the title. Magic couldn't even get rookie of the year. Although I'm sure putting up a 21.5/11.2/8.7 line and 42 points in the Finals clincher covering for and injured Kareem in route to winning Finals MVP was ample consolation.
Win Produced Robin #5:Terry Porter for 1991 Portland Trail Blazers with 17 Wins Produced to Clyde Drexler with 17.7
Porter/Drexler appearance number #3 and perhaps their best team. 63 Wins was a franchise record for the Blazers that still stands. They fell short of a Finals appearance that would have made it the middle of three straight by falling to the last great Magic Johnson team. They probably wouldn't have won the title regardless because.....
Win Produced Robin #4:Scottie Pippen for 1991 Chicago Bulls with 17.2 Wins Produced to Michael Jordan with 22.1
The first great Jordan/Pippen Finals team was waiting for them. Credit is due to Horace Grant too who was close to making this a co-Robin situation with Scottie. Both Horace and Scottie were in their third year and finally ready for the big show. This team won 61 games and they were improving as the season went along. Important to note that the 1987 Bulls draft is perhaps the greatest underrated draft ever. Pippen and Grant in the same draft to the same team? Yikes.
Win Produced Robin #3:Steve Nash for 2006 Phoenix Suns with 17.4 Wins Produced to Shawn Marion with 18.2
The highest Nash/Marion teamup goes to the subject of one of my favorite basketball books, the seven seconds or less 2005-6 Phoenix Suns. After losing their nominal second star in Amare to knee surgery for the season, the plucky Suns plugged in a second year french kid by the name of Boris and the actual stars of the team rallied with 54 wins, a second MVP for Nash (and really Marion was the person with the best case against his MVP) and a hard fought conference Finals loss to the Mavs.
Win Produced Robin #2:Michael Jordan for 1992 Chicago Bulls with 18.4 Wins Produced to Horace Grant with 20
Number 2 on our list is the consensus choice for Greatest of all Time playing second fiddle on his own team. Horace Grant is the forgotten man in the first Bulls Big three. This was him in his fourth year at his absolute prime helping lead the Bulls to a 67 win season and a second ring. I am actually out and out stunned that Dennis Rodman made it into the Hall before he did. It's right but I'm stunned.
Win Produced Robin #1:David Robinson for 1994 San Antonio Spurs with 18.7 Wins Produced to Dennis Rodman with 24.4
Do you remember when Dennis Rodman went to San Antonio, became Dennis "The Menace" and flirted with winning a title next to David Robinson with not much else around him between stops as a centerpiece on two of the all time great dynasties? You should. David and Dennis combined to produce 43.1 of the Spurs 54 wins in 1994. The ydid this in 6230 minutes for a Wins Produced per 48 of .332. The rest of the team put up a Wins Produced per 48 of .040. Translation, this was a lousy roster. The 1995 team was better at 62 wins but they ran into a pissed off Hakeem at the height of his powers.
To quote David Robinson: "Hakeem? You don't solve Hakeem."
So who gets the BoxScore Geeks Wins Produced Batman and Robin Award?
Karl Malone and Stockton get upset again.
Next up, Win Shares Robins for the NBA and the ABA! Stay tuned!
-Arturo