Who Would Win This 2 On 2 NBA Tournament? (Superduos Edition)

• The eight NBA superduos below would be the best in the NBA in 2023-24

• Each duo below was made by using the 16 best and most exciting stars in today’s NBA

• This tournament features three rounds of single-elimination basketball with games going to 21 points to declare a winner

Every once and a while, as NBA fans, we let our imaginations run wild. We like to think about what would happen if we dropped certain superstars into certain eras or even imagine what would happen if some NBA star players had never been injured or traded to other situations. We also love to create our own scenarios and break down exactly what we think would happen. That is exactly what we have done here today. 

Using 16 of the biggest stars in today’s NBA, we have made the biggest and best duos based on chemistry, basketball fit, and camaraderie. In order to make the teams as fair as possible, we created a lottery system to finalize each duo. These eight pairs will participate in the ultimate battle of two-on-two basketball to claim supremacy over today’s game. Once we had the pairs, we used the same lottery system to determine which pairs would go up against each other in the first round, or quarterfinals, of our tournament. In the end, one winner will be determined based on our opinions of what would take place. This is how the first-round matchups will look:

LeBron James & Kyrie Irving vs. Joel Embiid & Ja Morant

Giannis Antetokounmpo & Damian Lillard vs. Jayson Tatum & Jimmy Butler

On the other side of the bracket will be:

Kevin Durant & Stephen Curry vs. Kawhi Leonard & Devin Booker

Nikola Jokic & Luka Doncic vs. Anthony Davis & Shai Gilgeous Alexander

These are truly the matchups that dreams are made of featuring the 16 best players from today’s NBA. It is important to note that all players are to be considered as today’s versions of themselves and not in their primes. Now, it is time to see which superduo will reign supreme in the end and be hailed as the King of this extremely exciting two-on-two tournament.

Quarterfinals

LeBron James & Kyrie Irving vs. Joel Embiid & Ja Morant

Our first matchup features a duo that has won an NBA championship together in LeBron James and Kyrie Irving going up against the reigning MVP and one of the most promising young stars in today’s NBA. Unfortunately for LeBron James, he draws the assignment of having to take on Joel Embiid. Morant and Embiid will try to force the issue on this as long as they can until James’ IQ outwits their plan and turns the tide.

Kyrie Irving and LeBron James’ chemistry is unmatched and Ja Morant’s defensive effort is not enough to limit Kyrie’s creativity and ability to get past him at any given moment. Although the size difference for Embiid keeps this matchup close, Irving’s dominance from the mid-range and at the rim is the deciding factor in this matchup. James’ ability to blow past Embiid with a head of steam with and without the ball in his hands. The speed and skill of Embiid and Morant are enough to make this close but the experience of Kyrie and LeBron knowing each other’s tendencies is just too much.

Result: LeBron & Kyrie vs. Embiid & Ja 21-19

Giannis Antetokounmpo & Damian Lillard vs. Jayson Tatum & Jimmy Butler

The second quarterfinal matchup is one of the most exciting matchups in this round. We finally get our first look at the duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard before they take the court together as members of the Milwaukee Bucks. The duo is a match made in heaven, perfectly picking apart their opponents with their inside-outside games. Giannis is nearly unstoppable with the strength and size advantage over Jayson Tatum and when Jimmy Butler tries to step in to double, Giannis finds Lillard often for an open outside look.

Despite a slow start for the Milwaukee duo, they needed no time to get used to each other. Jimmy Butler did a good job of slowing Dame’s production down but Antetokounmpo was just too much for Tatum. Even though Jayson Tatum would go on a scoring spurt for their duo to keep this one close until the very end. The duo of Antetokounmpo and Lillard would end up pulling away after breaking down Butler and Tatum physically, unable to keep up with their opponents’ perfectly in-sync play.

Result: Giannis & Lillard vs. Tatum & Butler 21-16

Kevin Durant & Stephen Curry vs. Kawhi Leonard & Devin Booker

On the other side of the bracket, we get one of our closest matchups of the entire first round. Kevin Durant and Stephen Curry are reunited from their days in Golden State as a team fully loaded with offensive firepower. They find themselves in a tough matchup against Kawhi Leonard and Devin Booker who can match their production stride for stride but also play well enough defensively to perhaps slow them down enough to make things interesting, or so they thought.

Early on, Durant will struggle against Kawhi Leonard who is able to make Durant uncomfortable with his usual mid-range scoring bursts. Curry, on the other hand, will be the difference in this series thanks to his unlimited range and constant motion. Booker also gives Curry fits on the offensive end as well with Curry unable to stop Booker’s assault on the paint. In the end, it would be Curry’s outside shooting to the rescue once again and the duo that has won two NBA titles pull away to eliminate Kawhi Leonard and Devin Booker.

Result: Durant & Curry vs. Kawhi & Booker 21-18

Nikola Jokic & Luka Doncic vs. Anthony Davis & Shai Gilgeous-Alexander

With all of the talk leading up to the regular season, Anthony Davis finally gets a second crack at Nikola Jokic before things kick off on opening night. The European duo of Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic is one that would break the league if it were ever to actually occur but Davis comes armed with a budding superstar of his own in All-NBA First Team member Shai Gilgeous-Alexander.

Things get started with Gilgeous-Alexander putting on a show as both an explosive scorer and playmaker, finding Davis numerous times on back-door cuts and lobs at the rim. One small misstep by the duo of Davis and Gilgeous-Alexander would be their demise. Once Jokic and Doncic get the ball, they would never relinquish it as they completely have their opponents off balance and running every which way on defense. Jokic comes out to the high post and knocks down some shots while Doncic is able to his size and gain position in the paint. As skilled and quick as Davis and Gilgeous-Alexander are, they cannot keep up with the sound offensive game coming from their opponents.

Result: Jokic & Doncic vs. Davis & Shai 21-15

Semifinals

LeBron James & Kyrie Irving vs. Giannis Antetokounmpo & Damian Lillard

In our second-round matchups, we get one of our championship duos of the past meeting a duo with championship aspirations heading into 2023-24. Experience definitely speaks volumes and is apparent from the start as LeBron James and Kyrie Irving look perfectly in sync to start the game. James is struggling to get around Giannis with the ball in his hands so he defers a lot of the scoring to Kyrie who is making Lillard look foolish. When Giannis comes to double on the drive, James is right there as a security blanket for Kyrie to dump it off to for easy buckets.

Finally, with one defensive stop, the tides turn. Just as Irving was doing to him, Lillard begins to find his rhythm from the outside and seemingly cannot miss from deep. Off an errant shot, Giannis absolutely obliterates James on the rebound for the outback and you can almost see the wind leave the team of James and Irving. Although it would be a back-and-forth battle to the end, youth and power prevail as age and fatigue set in and Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard narrowly escape to advance to the Finals.

Result: LeBron & Kyrie vs. Giannis & Lillard 16-21

Kevin Durant & Stephen Curry vs. Nikola Jokic & Luka Doncic

On this day, not a lick of defense would be played. Two incredibly explosive offensive duos square off to see who will take on Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard in the Finals. Kevin Durant starts things off by having a field day getting to his spots within the three-point line against Jokic, finding his stroke, and worrying fans of the European duo. Curry also has himself a fine start with a few threes to build a solid lead.

The mistake by Durant and Curry would be, yet again, to let Jokic and Doncic tough the ball. Once again, Jokic took advantage of his mismatch in the post with precise and timely feeds from Doncic on the perimeter. Jokic would also go deep into his playmaking bag of tricks and allow Doncic to absolutely torch Curry in the post. With a considerable strength and weight discrepancy in both matchups, the duo of Jokic and Dincic would wind up running away with this matchup thanks to their combined offensive skills running Durant and Curry into the ground.

Result: Durant & Curry vs. Jokic & Doncic 16-21

Finals

Giannis Antetokounmpo & Damian Lillard vs. Nikola Jokic & Luka Doncic

In the Finals of our superduo two-on-two tournament, we have two incredibly talented teams set to do battle for the ultimate bragging rights. Nikola Jokic and Luka Doncic have presented matchup problems galore for their opponents to this point as the clear-cut most talented offensive duo there is in the tournament. Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard have gotten to this point simply by being the best on both sides of the ball and wearing teams out physically with their back-and-forth inside-outside games.

This matchup would get started with Jokic and Doncic confusing their opponents with quick reads, efficient passing, and even more efficient scoring. The mismatch of Doncic on Lillard in the post was yet again an issue for Antetokounmpo and Lillard but this time, Doncic picked the worst time to hit a shooting slump. In relinquishing the ball early on, this gave Giannis and Lillard the opportunity to build their chemistry even stronger.

While Lillard and Antetokounmpo found their rhythm from all three levels on the court, Jokic showed off some defensive anticipation to slow down the attack. Still, Doncic could not get his shots to fall and after a few possessions, gave up the ball to Giannis and Dame. They would not get another chance on offense. After a few feeds to Giannis in the post and Jokic acting like a turnstile, the double-team cam and Lillard sealed the deal with back-to-back triples to claim the Finals win.

Result: Giannis & Lillard vs. Jokic & Doncic 21-19

Winners

Giannis Antetokounmpo & Damian Lillard

After navigating a fierce bracket and incredibly tough Finals matchup, the new real-life duo of Giannis Antetokounmpo and Damian Lillard claim the tournament narrowly. On full display was their ability to adapt to any situation and get things done in any situation there is on the court. When Giannis found the paint was clogged up, Lillard understood where to be to bail him out. When Lillard couldn’t find his shot, Giannis was there to make sure to clean it up and take over in the paint like he is supposed to do as one of the best players in the world.

Honestly, this is what NBA fans should come to expect in 2023-24 and beyond. With the pressure off Lillard to be a primary scorer, he gets to tap into his playmaking and off-ball movement more than at any other point in his career. Lillard’s role as one of the best shooters in the game as well as someone who can create for others and himself will work wonders next to a player like Giannis who garners so much attention. The only question that remains is whether or not this is a foreshadowing of the season and if the Milwaukee Bucks will be the last ones standing in 2023-24 as the NBA champions once again.