The Miami Heat’s Big 3 era with LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh was probably the zenith of the franchise’s history. Miami qualified for four consecutive NBA Finals and captured a pair of NBA titles during the trio’s four seasons together.
However, the Big 3 Heat went through plenty of growing pains early on. Around one month into the 2010-11 regular season, Miami owned a record of just 8-7 after it picked up its third loss in a row.
According to ESPN, at one point early in James’ maiden season in Miami, he called a longtime friend of his — Randy Mims — and told him he was heading over his residence to talk some things over.
“I’m coming over,” James told him. “I need to talk to you.”
James was dealing with more than just an iffy start to the season for the Heat. He was also dealing with being away from his family, living in a hotel and being seen as a villain in the NBA.
He showed up to Mims’ place in the early morning hours crying, questioning whether he had made the right decision by leaving the Cleveland Cavaliers to join the Heat in free agency.
“I’m not sure I’m doing this right,” James said in the driveway of Mims’ place. “I’m not sure I made the right decision to come here.”
Mims then reassured James that the situation would grow on him in due time.
“You got this, man,” Mims told James. “We’re going to figure this whole thing out. I get it. It’s a little new for you.”
More recently, James looked back on that night and implied that his mind was racing at the time.
“It was just a lot of s— that was just going on in my head,” James said of that night. “I was still young. … I was questioning myself. I know I probably startled the f— out of him at like three o’clock, four o’clock in the morning. I pulled up and I told him to come outside and I literally sat on the hood of my car. He came out and we just talked things through.”
Maverick Carter, another person close to James, thinks that conversation was a pivotal moment in James’ career.
“Those are massive moments when you can seek someone you admire, someone you appreciate their words, and someone who’s enough of a good human being, but a realist to help you realize, ‘OK, how do I handle this?'” Carter said. “We’ve all been through things in our life, and if you are around someone who gives bad advice or handles it wrong or thinks about themselves in those moments, it can go really bad for someone.”
James appears to feel the same way.
“I needed him in that moment and he came through for me,” James said.
According to Mims, James “took off” from there.
“The rest is history,” Mims said. “From there, he took off. We never had them conversations again.”
According to ESPN, Mims has played an important role throughout James’ NBA career behind the scenes.
James did indeed figure out how to succeed alongside Wade and Bosh in Miami. The Heat won back-to-back titles in 2012 and 2013, and James won Finals MVP honors both times.
James won his first NBA title after he and the Heat eliminated the Oklahoma City Thunder in five games in the 2012 NBA Finals. The Thunder were led by a young trio of Russell Westbrook, Kevin Durant and James Harden.
Then, James earned his second and final championship with the storied Heat franchise when the team sent the San Antonio Spurs home in seven games in the 2013 championship series. Miami was in grave danger of losing the series entirely, as it trailed 3-2 at one point before it picked up wins in Games 6 and 7.
James didn’t stop winning titles after his time with the Heat came to an end. He helped the Cavaliers win their first championship in franchise history in 2016 and then led the Los Angeles Lakers to their 17th title several years ago back in 2020.