Many years have passed since Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird retired from the NBA. But the impact that they have left on the league will never be diminished.
In an era where the NBA was just starting to grow popular around the world, this trio was heavily responsible for making it popular around the globe. Additionally, each of them is regarded as a legend of their respective franchise.
So much so that even today, fans tend to compare current NBA players to them. While some like to compare the said players individually, there are times when fans wonder what if there was a 3-on-3 tournament featuring MJ, Magic, and Bird on one side and quite literally any other trio from the NBA on the other side?
Well, renowned Twitter account “Slam” recently asked this question to their fans via tweet.
Anyone beating this trio in an all-time 3-on-3 tournament? #MJMondays pic.twitter.com/G1CYgwTAYy
— SLAM (@SLAMonline) June 6, 2022
This question, of course, sparked a debate on Twitter. Many fans said that this trio is simply unbeatable while other fans made compelling points about which Big 3 could potentially defeat them. Anyway, here are some of the best comments that we could find below the tweet:
— Burnie MHII (@WkndatBurnies) June 6, 2022
I would replace Magic with John Stockton.
— Nick Adams (@NickAdamsinUSA) June 7, 2022
https://twitter.com/AfriKing_Jisike/status/1533874344769617920
People are gonna hate me for saying this. Bird's D, and MJ's and Magic's outside shot will all be liabilities in a 3×3 game.
— BrownMamba (@BrownMambaPHL) June 6, 2022
First of all, most of y’all are TRIPPIN with your answers. Second of all, they’re clearly talking about them in their prime, not at the time. Third of all, give me Kobe, LeBron and Wilt. Kobe to handle MJ, LeBron to try to handle or at least bother Bird and Wilt cause Wilt.
— Cristian Delvillar (@CristianDelvil4) June 7, 2022
Any 3 man team with Shaq would be unstoppable, you can’t double and no one would be able to stop him from camping down low
— Baba Booey (@BabaBooey70) June 7, 2022
Prime-for-prime in a 3-on-3 tournament, this trio wins:
1) Kevin “KG, The Big Ticket” Garnett
2) Tim “The Big Fundamental, Timmy” Duncan
3) Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon
The man-to-man defense (when not switching): KG defends Bird, Timmy defends Magic, and The Dream defends MJ.
— Mikel Moon (@MikellMoon) June 7, 2022
LeBron, KD and Giannis
— César #17 (@cesar_hn17) June 6, 2022
I’d bet the house and Elon Musk’s money on this. LeBron, KD, and Giannis. 3 Era-less players. pic.twitter.com/fccbYPsquQ
— Burakku Flash (@BurakkuFlash) June 7, 2022
LeBron, Kobe, & KD would easily beat them. Magic & Bird are legends but let's face it, they don't have elite defense. Especially man-to-man, even in their primes. And against LeBron & KD? That'd be tough. You can even replace Durant with Giannis & they'd still win in my opinion.
— Jomm (@jommephraim) June 7, 2022
Lebron, Pippen and Kobe
— bagulan24 (@bagulan24) June 7, 2022
Kobe, Shaq, Steph
— BasketBallogy (@Basketballogy1) June 7, 2022
Kareem, lebron, Durant
— SportsAnalyst (@SportsA49410218) June 7, 2022
Jokic, LeBron, Steph.
— sammy laffan (@sammylaff) June 7, 2022
Shaq bron and kobe👀
— Miguel Vazquez (@Miguelnight89) June 7, 2022
To be honest, a huge flaw in this hypothetical matchup is the fact there is no center in that lineup. So if the likes of Shaquille O’Neal or Kareem Abdul-Jabbar were paired with two other greats, it is quite possible to defeat them.
Moreover, the tweet wasn’t clear about if MJ, Magic, and Bird will be in their respective primes during this matchup or during the time when that image was clicked. Regardless like most imaginary debates, there is no way for us to find a definitive answer and we can debate about it for days, but it’s impossible to convince everyone to select a single answer.
