Landon Buford
Sue Bird and Lauren Jackson are one of the best dynamics do’s the WNBA has ever seen. During their ten seasons together with the Seattle Storm, they won two championships in 2004 and 2010. Throughout their tenure in Seattle, they drew comparisons to other great duos such as John Stockton & Karl Malone, Gary Payton, and Shawn Kemp because of their chemistry on the basketball court.
But is it possible that Bird and Jackson were better than both those great duos?
Dallas Mavericks assistant coach Jenny Boucek thinks so.
“Yeah, but they are better; they won more, said Boucek. “I didn’t coach those other players, but the other thing about Sue [Bird] and Lauren [Jackson] were really special. Not only did they complement each other almost to perfection, but they were both incredible teammates. Everyone wanted to play, and everybody wanted to play for them.”
“They were loved by their teammates. So, they were these humble superstars that were loved by their teammates and a magical chemistry. And when those two were on the floor as a coach, you could win a championship.”
Boucek coached both Bird and Jackson for most of their careers in Seattle.
John Stockton and Karl Malone & Gary Payton and Shawn Kemp were great dynamic duos, but they weren’t able to duplicate the success that Bird and Jackson had on the court in terms of winning a championship together. Stockton and Malone were able to reach the finals in back to back seasons in 1997 and 1998, but came up short against Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Kemp and Payton suffered the same feat in the 1996 Finals against the Bulls.
Payton would later win a championship with the Miami Heat in 2006 as they defeated the Dallas Mavericks. However, Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, and John Stockton would all retire without winning a championship.
