Dwyane Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh created one of the best trios in NBA history in the summer of 2010. They joined forces in South Beach to create one of the most iconic Big 3s in NBA history.
In the beginning, the team drew a lot of criticism from fans, who thought it was unfair to have so much power on one team. The first year of the Heat ended up with a collapse in the NBA Finals, losing to the underdogs Dallas Mavericks in the biggest series of all.
They bounced back the following year, winning the first of two titles against the Oklahoma City Thunder. They’d face the San Antonio Spurs twice, winning the first matchup and losing the second before the Big 3 split, with LeBron James returning to Cleveland.
Love them or hate them, they were very important for the league, and Wade is well aware of that. Talking with Justin Tinsley of The Undefeated, the retired shooting guard reflected on those days, claiming that that team was very important for the association.
What do you have to say to all the conspiracy theorists who say the three of you decided this years earlier to join forces?
Short answer: nothing. I’m not trying to tell someone that I’m right about something. I know what happened. I was there! Like, y’all wasn’t there! So you can’t tell me. [Laughs.] This moment changed the course of our lives for the better, but it changed the course of all of our lives.
It was just a pivotal moment in sports and in the world. So, J, you know, you go out and you say something and then people tell you you’re wrong. I can’t tell you what you want to believe, but I can tell you my stories and how this affected me or has an effect on me. There’s been a lot of Big Threes, but that Big Three changed the game. It’s a story that the NBA will forever tell. You can’t tell the story of the NBA without telling the story of Chris Bosh, LeBron James and Dwyane Wade with the Miami Heat.
More superteams came after that Heat squad made a lot of noise in the association. The Los Angeles Lakers created one of the most disappointing superteams in NBA history, but then the Golden State Warriors took the league by storm, creating one of the best teams ever.
LeBron kept this trend, creating another Big 3 in Cleveland with Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love.
Right now we have two superteams in the league, but both squads are missing big pieces due to different reasons. The Lakers are missing LeBron James due to injury and the Brooklyn Nets are yet to see Kyrie Irving on the floor this campaign.
So yes, Wade is right with his claims. The Miami Heat Big 3 was really influential for the league. They changed the way players see joining other stars to have an easy path to the championship.
