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Name some players that were kind of held back but have risen above and beyond at the absence of the player, Here are a few that come to mind:

Tracy McGrady - Vince Carter
Bradley Beal - John Wall
Scottie Pippen - Michael Jordan - One could argue that Pippen was already flourishing under MJ.

Anyone else?

Adebayo - Whiteside

Dirk Nowitizki - Steve Nash

Nash went from being a backup All-star game player to a full fledged MVP and arguably better than Dirk.

Paul George - Danny Granger
Jimmy Butler - Derrick Rose
Giannis Antetokounmpo - Jabari Parker
Rudy Gobert - Enes Kanter

Victor Oladipo - Russell Westbrook
Kobe Bryant - Shaq

Players that should have stayed in that situation.
Tracey McGrady - Vince Carter
Stephan Marbury - Kevin Garnett

The Celtics transition in the early 1960s featured a lot of that, most obviously Sam Jones becoming a major star after Bill Sharman and Bob Cousy retired.

And Kevin McHale became a major star after Cedric Maxwell was traded.

Should add Grant hill under Tracy next to Vince. If Grant hill didn't become injured, Tracy wouldn't have had the team to himself.

Harden is an obvious choice behind Westbrook and Durant.
Steve Nash - Jason Kidd

13th Man wrote:Name some players that were kind of held back but have risen above and beyond at the absence of the player, Here are a few that come to mind:

Tracy McGrady - Vince Carter
Bradley Beal - John Wall
Scottie Pippen - Michael Jordan - One could argue that Pippen was already flourishing under MJ.

Anyone else?

Eh, T-Mac would've been 3rd option next to Grant Hill & Tim Duncan if all things worked out as planned.

Orlando Magic were about forming a super team during 2000s weak Eastern Conference.

Curry - Monta Ellis

Jimmy Butler - Derrick Rose

Nash - Dirk

Jermaine O'Neal - Rasheed Wallace

Michael Redd - Ray Allen

Paul Westphal was a bench player on the Celtics (and winning a championship) and then immediately became an All-NBA player after getting traded to Phoenix.

dennythedino wrote:
Jermaine O'Neal - Rasheed Wallace.

Oh yeah this is an obscure one lot of people don't know. Good catch.

Optms wrote:Dirk Nowitizki - Steve Nash

Nash went from being a backup All-star game player to a full fledged MVP and arguably better than Dirk.

Answer should be nash - Kidd in Phoenix.

As the same goes for those people who said kobe shaq. No.
Look at the question. It is not asking which duo of stars. This is one under the shadow of a star ( public not realizing until one of them left )

joe dumars - isiah thomas

glide--petrovic

13th Man wrote:Name some players that were kind of held back but have risen above and beyond at the absence of the player, Here are a few that come to mind:

Tracy McGrady - Vince Carter
Bradley Beal - John Wall
Scottie Pippen - Michael Jordan - One could argue that Pippen was already flourishing under MJ.

Anyone else?

Pascal Siakam / Kawhi Leaonard
Kyle Lowry / Demar DeRozan

To me, those guys are 1-st team or 2-nd team NBA.
Versatile offense, good team players, good individual defenders +... even better within team concepts.
I'm watching this YT channel lately https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqHRqv5VTJdEit5y3-0yYbA, just the nuances of both their games' are amazing.

Terrell Brandon - Mark Price

Not sure if Domantas Sabonis count.

LeCalinou wrote:

13th Man wrote:Name some players that were kind of held back but have risen above and beyond at the absence of the player, Here are a few that come to mind:

Tracy McGrady - Vince Carter
Bradley Beal - John Wall
Scottie Pippen - Michael Jordan - One could argue that Pippen was already flourishing under MJ.

Anyone else?

Pascal Siakam / Kawhi Leaonard
Kyle Lowry / Demar DeRozan

To me, those guys are 1-st team or 2-nd team NBA.
Versatile offense, good team players, good individual defenders +... even better within team concepts.
I'm watching this YT channel lately https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCqHRqv5VTJdEit5y3-0yYbA, just the nuances of both their games' are amazing.

No, dude, just stop it. How are they 1st or 2nd team nba when you have Giannis, Lebron, Kawhi, Harden, Jokic, AD, Embiid, Doncic, CP3, Butler? It’s arguable whether they’re 3rd team, 1st team is impossible and 2nd team is a stretch.

And Lowry-Derozan does not fit this thread, Lowry wasn’t in DeRozan’s shadow, you’re literally just using this thread to talk Raptors anywhere you can. Fitting Siakam-Kawhi is questionable as well.

Might be too soon, but a very recent example is Devonte Graham/Kemba Walker.

When the Hornets let Kemba walk James Borrego emphasized moving Graham's game in a 3pt-heavy direction much like Kemba's had been his last few seasons in Charlotte. The results speak for themselves: Graham jumps from 4ppg to 18ppg, among league leaders in 3pt makes and attempts. That shooting ability coupled with his excellent passing (8 assists per game) turned him into a relatively valuable player out of nowhere. It's uncertain if his development would have exploded like that if Kemba were still in town.

This year:
Tatum - Kyrie
Ingram - LeBron

Kevin Johnson was a bench player buried behind Mark Price in his rookie season. Then the Cavs trade him to Suns where he practically become a 20/10 guy for them from the start.