Who were the first twin towers in the NBA?

Answer 1

Ralph Sampson & Hakeem Olijawon

Sampson and Olajuwon? Not really....

In the early 70s, ABA Kentucky Colonels had the first professional Twin Towers - Dan Issell and Artis Gilmore. Dan Issell averaged 29.9ppg and 13.2rpg in his rookie season and Gilmore had 23.8ppg and 13.8rpg in his MVP campaign. In their 4th season together in 1975, they won the championship.

In the NBA, the first twin towers were the Bullets duo of Elvin Hayes and Wes Unseld in the 1970s. These two hall of fame centers dominated the paint for 10 years together, and led the team to the Finals three times, and won a championship in 1978.

In terms of combination of size and atheleticism, the Houston combo of Sampson and Olajuwon was very impressive. But they were not the first one.

(Moses Hahn)

By your logic, Bill Russell and Tom Heinsohn are the first twin towers.

Teamed together beginning in 1956, this center/forward combo dominated the league winning 8 titles in 9 years, the first in 1957. That beats out Hayes/Unseld by at least 13 years.

Most would agree that the term "Twin Towers" needs to refer to two players of unusual height that can dominate the inside. While Unseld and Hayes were exceptional players, neither had the stature to be considered giants, especially when you consider Chamberlain, Gilmore, Jack Sikma, Bill Walton, Kareem Abdul-Jabaar, Bob Lanier... etc etc etc all played during the same era and had better vertical length.

Twin towers usually refers to two very gifted centers at or very near 7' tall.