Miami Heat legend Dwyane Wade recently spoke with Justin Tinsley of The Undefeated and reflected on his playing days.
Wade took some time to look back on the Heat’s iconic Big 3 era. The legendary trio, of course, featured Wade, LeBron James and Chris Bosh.
Wade explained that the Heat were so dominant during the Big 3 era that opposing players and teams were visibly defeated during games.
“Everybody was in disbelief!” Wade said regarding the reaction to the trio’s decision to join forces in Miami. “Even players was like, ‘Wait, what?’ When we played against guys, they gave us their best shot. They came out and gave us everything. But there came a point in some games where you saw we outmatched them. Not just because of us three, either. It was our entire team. You’d see us turn it on for five minutes and the game would go from down three to up 20. You’d see a lot of guys and teams get defeated. You would see the defeat on their face. We’d be like, ‘We got ’em. They’re defeated.’ Because it’s like you’d come off the bench with your best guys. We come off the bench with Dwyane and Chris Bosh. Or we come off with LeBron and D. Or we come off with Chris and ’Bron.”
Wade explained how the team wore down its opponents.
“We all started together, and then the next group, you still got one or two of us still in,” he said. “And so you’d see it, like, over the course of a game, teams would be like, they just keep coming! But I think we did get the best shot from a lot of guys. I think that that really helped us get to the point where we could learn how to play together as a team and become champions, because every night we got that. We got [the NBA’s] best shot.”
When all was said and done, the Big 3 wound up winning leading the Heat to two NBA titles.
Today, James is the only member of the trio who’s still active. He’s hoping to lead the Los Angeles Lakers to a championship this season, and if that happens, he’ll have earned his fifth ring.
Bosh and Wade are both retired. Bosh is already a member of the Hall of Fame, and he’ll be joined by Wade and James in the near future.
