Big Three (Miami Heat)

The Big Three, sometimes known as The Heatles, were a trio of professional basketball players – LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, and Chris Bosh – who played for the Miami Heat of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 2010 to 2014. James, Bosh, and Wade had been selected as the 1st, 4th, and 5th picks in the 2003 NBA draft, and became scoring leaders for their respective franchises over their first seven seasons.

History[]

After re-signing Wade following the 2009–10 season, the Heat secured the signings of both Bosh and James in free agency, with the latter being announced in the television special The Decision. The trio led the Heat to the NBA Finals in each of their four seasons together, and won back-to-back championships in 2012 and 2013. After losing the Finals to the San Antonio Spurs the following season, James opted out of a contract extension, and returned to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Records and statistics[]

Season-by-season team record[]

Note: GP = Games played, W = Wins, L = Losses, W–L% = Winning percentage

Season	GP	W	L	W–L%	Finish	Playoffs
2010–11	82	58	24	.707	1st in Southeast	Lost NBA Finals, 4–2 (Mavericks)
2011–12	66	46	20	.697	1st in Southeast	Won NBA Finals, 4–1 (Thunder)
2012–13	82	66	16	.805	1st in Southeast	Won NBA Finals, 4–3 (Spurs)
2013–14	82	54	28	.659	1st in Southeast	Lost NBA Finals, 4–1 (Spurs)

Season-by-season player statistics[]

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field-goal percentage	3P%	3-point field-goal percentage	FT%	Free-throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game

  Lead team

2010–11 regular season[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	77	77	36.3	.496	.240	.815	8.3	1.9	0.77	0.64	18.7
LeBron James	79	79	38.8	.510	.330	.759	7.5	7.0	1.57	0.63	26.7
Dwyane Wade	76	76	37.1	.500	.306	.758	6.4	4.6	1.46	1.14	25.5

2011 playoffs[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	21	21	39.7	.474	.000	.814	8.5	1.1	0.71	0.90	18.6
LeBron James	21	21	43.9	.466	.353	.763	8.4	5.9	1.67	1.19	23.7
Dwyane Wade	21	21	39.4	.485	.269	.777	7.1	4.4	1.62	1.33	24.5

2011–12 regular season[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	57	57	35.2	.487	.286	.821	7.9	1.8	0.89	0.79	18.0
LeBron James	62	62	37.5	.531	.362	.771	7.9	6.2	1.85	0.81	27.1
Dwyane Wade	49	49	33.2	.497	.268	.791	4.8	4.6	1.67	1.29	22.1

2012 playoffs[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	14	10	31.4	.493	.538	.827	7.8	0.6	0.43	1.00	14.0
LeBron James	23	23	42.7	.500	.259	.739	9.7	5.6	1.87	0.70	30.3
Dwyane Wade	23	23	39.4	.462	.294	.729	5.2	4.3	1.70	1.30	22.8

2012–13 regular season[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	74	74	33.2	.535	.284	.798	6.8	1.7	0.9	1.4	16.6
LeBron James	76	76	37.9	.565	.406	.753	8.0	7.3	1.7	0.9	26.8
Dwyane Wade	69	69	34.7	.521	.258	.725	5.0	5.1	1.9	0.8	21.2

2013 playoffs[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	23	23	32.7	.458	.405	.733	7.3	1.5	1.0	1.6	12.1
LeBron James	23	23	41.7	.491	.375	.777	8.4	6.6	1.8	0.8	25.9
Dwyane Wade	22	22	35.5	.457	.250	.750	4.6	4.8	1.7	1.0	15.9

2013–14 regular season[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	79	79	32	.516	.339	.820	6.6	1.1	1.0	1.0	16.2
LeBron James	77	77	37.7	.567	.379	.750	6.9	6.3	1.6	0.3	27.1
Dwyane Wade	54	53	32.9	.545	.281	.733	4.5	4.7	1.5	0.5	19

2014 playoffs[]

Player	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3FG%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
Chris Bosh	20	20	34.3	.507	.405	.750	5.6	1.1	0.9	1.0	14.9
LeBron James	20	20	38.2	.565	.407	.806	7.1	4.8	1.8	0.6	27.4
Dwyane Wade	20	20	34.7	.500	.375	.767	3.9	3.9	1.5	0.3	17.8

Aftermath[]

Both Wade and Bosh continued to play for the Heat for two additional seasons after James' departure, before Wade departed Miami and signed with the Chicago Bulls, while Bosh ultimately retired due to medical reasons. On September 27, 2017, Wade signed a one-year contract with the Cavaliers, reuniting him with James.^[1] On February 8, 2018, at the NBA trade deadline, the Cavaliers traded Wade back to the Miami Heat in exchange for a protected 2024 second-round draft pick. On September 16, 2018, Wade announced his plan to retire from the NBA effective after the 2018–19 season and Chris Bosh officially announced his retirement on February 12, 2019 in his Miami Heat jersey retirement ceremony.

Legacy[]

The trio have been credited with having a dramatic influence on the NBA, specifically relating to team development and general management. Many teams in subsequent seasons have sought to adopt the "Big Three" model of courting established NBA superstars to their franchises, in order to win championships.^[2]

References[]