Few teams in NBA history were hated more than the Miami Heat’s ‘big three” era with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh.
After making the shocking decision to leave Cleveland and team up with other superstars, LeBron’s move to South Beach changed the NBA scene in a big way. It led to many within the community casting hate and criticism on the trio for disrupting the balance of power.
In a chat with JJ Redick on ‘The Old Man & The Three,’ Heat legend Dwyane Wade spoke on the critics and explained why he sees nothing wrong with stars teaming up.
“If you think about it, no one gives backlash to any championships that Larry Bird won, that Magic Johnson won, that Michael Jordan won… You don’t win championships without playing with other guys.”
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Fans like to credit LeBron’s Heat squad as the birth of the superteam era, but the practice actually started long before that.
Going back to the Showtime Lakers era, Magic Johnson won titles with stacked teams that included Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy, Michael Cooper, and A.C. Green, among others. Even Jordan was not short on assistance, with guys like Scottie Pippen, Steve Kerr, Dennis Rodman, and even Toni Kukoc there to back him up.
More recent examples include the 2008 Celtics with Pierce, Garnett, Allen, and the 2012 OKC Thunder with Kevin Durant, Russell Westbrook, James Harden, and Serge Ibaka.
The point is, a ton of championship winners throughout league history had squads that could be considered on the same level as LeBron’s Heat team. He didn’t start the trend, he merely bright it into the spotlight to a degree never seen before.
