Klutch Sports Group CEO Rich Paul appeared on the Pat McAfee Show on Tuesday, where he interestingly claimed that the Miami Heat didn’t have a Big 3 from 2010 to 2014. Paul believes the Heat had a Big 2 of LeBron James and Dwyane Wade, with Chris Bosh taking a backseat.
“I always love a Big 2,” Paul said. “I don’t really love a Big 3… People talk Big 3, but the Big 3 thing has never really worked. And you’ll say, ‘Well, what happened in Miami?’ That wasn’t really a Big 3. There was three guys that went in the lottery, and they did really well individually on their teams, so they put up big numbers and had big accomplishments.
“But when you think about it, Bosh was just the ultimate professional,” Paul added. “He took a backseat … he had such a high IQ, and he was such a professional as an individual. His approach to everything is what made that work.”
Paul made sure to shower Bosh with praise at the end, acknowledging all the sacrifices he had to make. If he hadn’t, then that team wouldn’t have gone to four straight NBA Finals and won two titles in 2012 and 2013.
It is a bit disrespectful to Bosh to claim that the Heat did not have a Big 3, though. Was he as good as James or Wade? No, but he was still pretty good.
Bosh averaged 17.3 points, 7.4 rebounds, 1.6 assists, 0.9 steals, and 1.0 blocks per game in the four seasons that he played alongside James and Wade. He had averaged 24.0 points and 10.8 rebounds in his final season with the Toronto Raptors, so there was a noticeable drop in production.
If the drop in Bosh’s numbers and his taking a different role is why Paul believes there was no Big 3 in Miami, then you have to ask one question. How many Big 3s have even been there?
If you look at NBA history, there has almost always been one player who has had to take a backseat when there are three stars. That didn’t stop anyone from putting that Big 3 label on them.
If we just go back in time a little bit, the San Antonio Spurs had a Big 3 of Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, and Manu Ginobili. The Spurs asked Ginobili to sacrifice and even come off the bench for much of his career. Does that mean the Spurs only had a Big 2? No.
When Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett teamed up on the Boston Celtics, all three of them saw their numbers drop significantly. Paul actually doesn’t consider that to even be a Big 3, as the offense was run differently, and Rajon Rondo was in the mix.
If we go by Paul’s reasoning, there may only be a couple of instances where we have seen a Big 3. Kevin Durant, James Harden, and Kyrie Irving on the Brooklyn Nets would certainly be one of them. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Draymond Green on the Golden State Warriors would be another, and you can maybe list out a couple more.
All in all, this seems like an attempt to uplift his client James’ accomplishments during his time with the Heat. In a few years, will the narrative be that it wasn’t even a Big 2 in Miami?
