Big Three (Miami Heat)

The Big Three, sometimes known as The Heatles,[1][2][3] 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 the 2010–11 season to the 2013–14 season. 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. During their 4 seasons together the Heat won 2 NBA finals, won 4 NBA Eastern Conference championships, and won the Southwest division 4 times.

The Big Three
LeBron James
Dwyane Wade
Chris Bosh

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 somewhat controversial 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.

James first referred to the trio as "the Heatles" after a 96–82 road victory over the Charlotte Bobcats on January 3, 2011, comparing the three stars to The Beatles for drawing strong road attendance. "I see we sell out 99.1 percent on the road, so we call ourselves the Heatles off the Beatles, so every time we take our show on the road we bring a great crowd," James said.[4] The term was criticized immediately by the media. Business Insider derided it as "stupid", while NBC Sports said, "It’s just too early for this — the Beatles are the most successful rock band of all time and you guys have yet to really do anything except look good in December. You haven’t even been on Ed Sullivan yet."[5][6]

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

  Led 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

Individual Honors

Honors listed are only for the years the big three were together

NBA Most Valuable Player

  • James- 2012, 2013

NBA Finals Most Valuable Player Award

  • James- 2012, 2013

Best NBA Player ESPY Award

  • James 2012, 2013

NBA Community Assist Award

  • Wade- 2013

All-NBA First Team

  • James 2011-2014

All-NBA Second Team

  • Wade- 2011

All-NBA Third Team

  • Wade – 2012, 2013

NBA All-Defensive First Team

  • James – 2011–2013

NBA All-Defensive Second Team

  • James – 2014

Season-long NBA Community Assist Award

  • Wade – 2013

NBA All-Star selections

  • Wade – 2011-2014
  • Bosh – 2011–2014
  • James – 2011–2014

NBA All-Star Shooting Stars Contest Champion

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.[7] 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. Bosh was inducted to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2021, and Wade received the same honor two years later.

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.[8]

References
  1. Windhorst, Brian (September 27, 2016). "The melancholy end to the Big Three era in Miami". ESPN. Retrieved May 19, 2022.
  2. Vardon, Joe. "Can Jimmy Butler be Miami's 'Heatles' LeBron James for Game 6 in Boston?". The Athletic. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  3. "ASK IRA: For the Heat, is the froth in the fit of a new Big 3?". Sun Sentinel. 2023-08-06. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  4. "LeBron James Re-names Miami the 'Heatles'".
  5. Baumer, Kevin. "Miami Heat Players Stupidly Calling Themselves "The Heatles"". Business Insider. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  6. Helin, Kurt (2011-01-04). "Heat players nickname themselves "The Heatles"". NBC Sports. Retrieved 2023-08-09.
  7. "Dwyane Wade clears waivers, signs with Cleveland Cavaliers".
  8. Friel, Jon (August 23, 2012). "How the Miami Heat 'Big 3' Blueprint Changed the NBA". BleacherReport.com. Retrieved June 1, 2017.
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