When Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh teamed up with the Miami Heat back in 2010, there was speculation that the three had discussed the idea of forming the superteam as early as the 2008 Olympics.
But Wade denied these allegations in his interview with Sports Illustrated's Rohan Nadkarni, saying that he, James, and Bosh only decided to team up in 2010:
“Listen. I have no reason not to tell the truth. I never thought that I would be playing with LeBron. If you would have asked me [in ’08], ‘What’s the percentage you and LeBron play together in the NBA?’ Zero point zero. It did not happen until the summer of 2010.”
Wade added that a big motivation to join forces was the fact that he and James kept losing in the playoffs to the Boston Celtics, who formed their own version of a Big Three with Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen back in 2007. Miami had the cap space to make it work, though small pay cuts were needed.
Wade also said that while the trio had agreed to join forces in June, he wasn't totally sure what LeBron was going to say during “The Decision” announcement:
“I didn’t know what was going to come out of his mouth. I was a little nervous. Me, him and Chris left that meeting saying this is what we’re going to do. But everybody went back to their homes, and you don’t know what’s going to change in that process. When he said, ‘take my talents to South Beach,’ I was like everybody else. I was like, ‘Yeah!’ because I knew . . . there weren’t going to be any more first-round exits for me.”
The Heat went on to four straight NBA Finals behind Wade, James, and Bosh before LeBron left the team to return to the Cleveland Cavaliers back in 2014. They won two titles during that span.
Follow Us
Subscribe