Dwyane Wade spoke recently on Udonis Haslem’s ‘OGs Show‘ about the formation of the big three. Wade noted that in 2010, he was ready to leave the Miami Heat in free agency, and was about to sign elsewhere until LeBron James called him to inform him that he would be signing with the Heat so that they could play together.
“I was actually leaving Miami at that time. I didn’t think that nobody out there that we could get was going to help us get to that level. Not that they weren’t good players, just that they weren’t good enough.”
“At that time I wanted to be a part of a team that could win. For me, my hometown team [Bulls] could win. I’m going back home… That was my mentality going into free agency outside of Miami. Then I got the call from number six…”
Wade did note that LeBron’s decision to team up with him did not guarantee a stay with the Heat, as both players considered joining the Chicago Bulls, as they were a promising young team, led by Derrick Rose at the time. But in the end, the duo signed with the Miami Heat, and were joined by fellow All-Star Chris Bosh.
The move turned out to be very beneficial for all three players and the Miami Heat, as the franchise went to four consecutive NBA Finals during their time together and won two NBA championships in 2012 and 2013. LeBron James had the best run of his career with the Heat, as he won two more MVPs in 2012 and 2013.
Wade, James, and Bosh teaming up with each other was the start of the player empowerment era, as players would follow in their lead in the future and use free agency to team up with each other.
Wade And LeBron Knew Bosh Was Their Third
In the same podcast, Dwyane Wade also spoke about the signing of Chris Bosh. Wade revealed that he and LeBron James knew well before that they wanted Chris Bosh to be the third for their big three, and added that the trio had met privately several times before they formalized the signing to make it happen.
“We went from that to ‘Let’s get in person, let’s have a conversation. We already knew the other player if it was three, who we would like to play with. His name was Christopher Bosh… We just let Chris know that we’re having this meeting to talk about some stuff, let’s talk about it. We had a secret meeting in a secret location…”
The decision to team up together on the Heat was a big one, not just for Wade, James, and Bosh, but for the entire NBA, as it set the stage for the rest of the league to follow suit, and allow the players to make decisions about their careers and teammates for the years to come.
Wade, James, and Bosh formed arguably the greatest trio in NBA history and experienced incredible success during their time together.
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