With Lebron James’ and Chris Bosh’s recent defections from the teams that drafted them to the supposed promised land of South Beach, to play alongside Dwyane Wade on the Heat, many fans have already annointed the trio of All Stars as the favorites to win not only the 2011 crown, but numerous NBA titles. I for one, think we should take a wait and see philosophy since the new Miami superpower will have a less than spectacular supporting cast and because by the numbers, D. Wade and Lebron are used to having the ball in their hands on nearly every possession. While I do concede they will be very good, let’s not forget that they will more than likely have to go through either Orlando or Boston just to get to the NBA Finals, with the probable 2 time defending champion LA Lakers, with a rested Kobe Bryant, waiting to once again lay the smack down on another Eastern Conference foe.
Considering that Miami’s new trio has only 1 title between them, it would be ludacris to compare them to some of the best trios of all-time like the Kareem, Magic, and Worthy’s Lakers or Bird, Parish, and McHale’s Celtics trios of the early 80’s, lets take a look at how some of the best trios of the past 15 years have faired when coming together under similar circumstances.
’95-’96 Chicago Bulls(Jordan, Pippen + Rodman)
Adding 2 time champion and rebounding and defensive demon Dennis Rodman to the rebuilt Chicago Bulls roster was a match made in heaven since all that they accomplished was setting the NBA mark for wins in a season(72-10) and winning 3 straight NBA Titles. Having a future Hall of Fame coach in Phil Jackson along with a rejuvenated MJ had to help, but essentially replacing Horace Grant from the ‘91-’93 championship teams with the “Worm” proved to be a worthy upgrade, even if we had to put up with all of Rodman’s theatrics and fake marriages to………….himself. The trio has to go down as one of the best in the history of the league and on a lesser note, the ‘95-’96 squad goes down as the #1 team on or listing of Greatest NBA Champions of the past 30 years.
’96-’97 Houston Rockets(Olajuwon, Drexler + Barkley)
With the Houston Rockets’ pursuit of making it back to the Finals and in an attempt to win their 3rd title over 4 seasons, they decided to bring in Charles Barkley, a 3rd Top 50 Player of All Time into the mix, hoping to get some front-court muscle and offensive support for Olajuwon. While the Rockets were hoping to get the 2nd coming of “Sir Charles”, instead they got the “Chuckwagon” since Barkley, even though he grabbed a career high 33 rebounds in his first game, played in only 53 contests due to injuries and suspensions. He did average roughly 19 points and 13 rebounds in helping the Rockets to a 57-25 mark, but ultimately it wasn’t enough since the Rockets lost to the Utah Jazz in the Western Finals. Charles retired 3 seasons later after playing in only 130 games due to injuries.
’02-’03 San Antonio Spurs(Duncan, Parker + Ginobili)
After already winning an NBA title in 1999, in the early portion of the decade, the Spurs were trying to cope with the losses of longtime team leaders and prime contributors David Robinson and Avery Johnson. Although they still had Duncan coming into the prime of his career, they decided to add some international flavor to their line-up to give Timmy some much needed help. In only his 2nd season, Tony Parker, originally from France, became entrenched as the team’s starting point man, while native Argentinian Manu Ginobili, was finally enticed to join the team that had drafted him back in the ’99 NBA Draft. Both players proved to be perfect compliments to Duncan as they soared to a 60-22 regular season before dismantling the NJ Nets in the Finals to win what would be their 1st of 3 titles together as they officially become the Spurs “Big 3.” Their ‘05 team even took the #9 spot on our Greatest NBA Champions feature.
‘03-’04 LA Lakers(O’Neal, Bryant + Malone and Payton)
Recently described as ring-chasers, Gary Payton and Karl Malone formed an alliance and decided to join the LA Lakers in the Summer of ‘03 in an attempt to finish off their illustrious careers as champions. Both players with their original squads had fallen victims to Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls championship winning juggernaut of the late 90‘s, while Shaq and Kobe were dead set on winning a 4th NBA Title as a team. Payton reportedly even turned down more than $35 million to play for the Blazers and instead chose to go to LA for chance at a ring. In a rather unprecedented move, Payton and Malone actually started for the Lakers, and helped lead them to a 56-26 record, and made it all the way back to the Finals before ultimately losing to Detroit in 5 games. Malone struggled through a myriad of injuries and limped through the post-season proving to be only a shell of his former self. Payton eventually won a ring in ‘06 with Miami, while Malone retired ringless immediately after the season.
‘07-’08 Boston Celtics(Pierce + Garnett and Allen)
In a now historic pairing of former All-Stars, former league MVP Kevin Garnett and 7 time All Star Ray Allen, were acquired via trades to finally give long-time Celtics captain Paul Pierce some much needed help. While all three took individual hits in scoring and rebounding numbers, as a unit they excelled by playing ultimate team basketball and hard-nosed defense and it paid off to the tune of an impressive 66-16 regular season and a 4 games to 2 win over the LA Lakers in the Finals. The win earned the ’07-’08 Celtics a #7 spot on our Greatest NBA Champions feature. When healthy, the trio remains as one of the more dominant grouping of players, as evidence of their stirring Finals run just last season.
‘09-’10 LA Lakers(Bryant, Gasol + Artest)
Even though the LA Lakers were coming of yet another championship season in ‘08-’09, they decide to take a calculated risk by signing arguably the game’s most volatile player in Ron Artest to be paired alongside Kobe and Pau Gasol. The move was criticized on a number of levels, but especially because of Artest’s epic defensive battles over the years against Kobe and his often ill advised and erratic behavior. Artest didn’t dissapoint by choosing jersey number 37 in honor of the late Michael Jackson. Ron surprisingly behaved himself, and even though statistically he had one of the worst seasons of his career in points(11 ppg) and steals(1.4), he provided some much needed toughness against opposing players in a rough Western Conference. The move ultimately paid off since the Lakers cruised to a 57-25 regular season and a 2nd straight NBA Title, with Artest playing a big part by nailing a game winning shot in Game 5 and scoring 20 points in the clinching Game 7.
Conclusion:
While history shows that teaming a trio of All Stars together, even if they are the caliber of future Hall of Famers, it doesn’t necessarily guarantee winning a championship. Maybe Lebron should be more focused on playing the right way and taking a lesser salary to have a better supporting cast and building his own legacy rather than holding phony news conferences, denegrating ball-boys, and guaranteeing multiple championships.
Allen Moll has been a lifelong NBA and NCAA College Basketball fan who watches and studies games religiously, and coaches youth basketball in his native Lehigh Valley region of Pennsylvania. Allen also provides content to Bleacherreport.com, Upperdeckblog.com, in addition to being a tenured NBA and NCAA columnist for TheHoopDoctors.com.
