The Best 'Big Threes' in NBA History

The best things in life come in threes. The Latin expression “omne trium perfectum” literally translates to “everything is perfect.” That’s because most popular stories and myths usually come in three’s—told in three acts, or three parts—and you can find trios all over history and popular culture: from the Christian doctrine of the Holy Trinity to The Three Amigos. Yet in contemporary times, the theory of the three has become most conspicuous in the NBA, where the Big Three has become shorthand for dominance.

The genesis of the Big Three moniker in basketball isn’t really that important, though we don’t really remember its usage in the NBA until Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen all ended up on the Boston Celtics in the summer of 2007. Ubuntu followed, as did two trips to the NBA Finals and a championship in 2008. But, if you’re asking hoop heads today who the best Big Three’s are in NBA history, The Truth, The Big Ticket and Jesus might not even crack the top 5. That’s because Big Three’s have dominated NBA history long before Celtics GM Danny Ainge made the super team a part of the day to day NBA lexicon.

So, who are the greatest Big Three’s in NBA history? We’re going to use a—you guessed it—three-pronged approach to the process to settle on our top trios: titles (apologies to Chuck), wins and individual excellence among the three players involved.

A few things to note before we start: one, we’re not going to look at any threesomes before the contemporary game, which started with the advent of the three-point shot in the 1979-80 season. That means Bill Russell and [insert any two among Sam Jones, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn and John Havlicek] aren’t on the list even though Russell won 11 titles in 13 seasons (the last two as player-coach). Bill is the G.O.A.T…for boomers of a particular persuasion, and always will be, but the game during that era was too different for a proper comparison. Two, Kobe Bryant and Shaq aren’t a Big Three. Basic arithmetic explains why. Three, we really wanted to put Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman/Bill Laimbeer on this list because they’re criminally overlooked—three Finals appearances in a row and two wins—every time one of these lists get made. But, they just just missed out to LeBron’s Heat squad, the followup to the Celtics’ Big Three.

5. LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (2011-2014)

Team: Miami Heat

Resume: 2 titles and 4 Finals appearances

It seems like eons ago when LeBron James uttered his infamous “I’m bringing my talents to South Beach” capital D Decision, followed by the oft-mocked “Not one, not two, not three…” declaration that combined to turn the fun-loving James into a pariah among the NBA establishment. But after losing to the Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals, spending the summer getting ribbed by a DeShawn Stevenson t-shirt, James exorcized his demons and together with a slightly deferential Wade and an underrated Chris Bosh (who do you think snatched the offensive rebound and passed it to Ray Allen in 2013? Who else was uniquely nimble and big enough to play their brand of hedge heavy pick-and-roll defense as a starting center?) won the NBA title the next two years. True, Tim Duncan and Co. got their revenge in James’ last season in South Beach, he went back home to Ohio that summer, but losing to that Spurs team isn’t that big of a let-down—as you’ll see.

4. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish (1981-1992)

Team: Boston Celtics

Resume: 3 titles and 5 Finals appearances

While Kevin McHale was not yet in the starting lineup for their opening 1981 title as a trio, this frontcourt is still perhaps the finest of the modern era. They were led by Larry Bird, who won three consecutive MVPs from 1983-85 (and was runner-up to Julius Erving and Moses Malone the two seasons before that); neither Magic nor MJ can say they’ve done that. Then there’s McHale, who might’ve averaged over 30 points per game if he weren’t sharing the frontcourt with perhaps the finest small forward not named LeBron in NBA history. With apologies to Dream, no one had a larger arsenal of impossible moves on the block than McHale. Robert Parish remains the only player we can remember who punched Bill Laimbeer in the face and didn’t get tossed (Or even a technical! He was, however, suspended for the next game of the series). And before you deride the Chief as a throw-in, don’t forget his nine All-Star nominations and a No. 4 finish in MVP voting for the 1982 season.

3. Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy (1983-1989)

Team: Los Angeles Lakers

Resume: 3 titles and 5 Finals appearances

Yes, we know Magic won five titles, but remember that he and Cap took home a pair of titles before L.A. drafted James Worthy with the No. 1 overall pick in the summer of 1982. And while the Lakers would lose to the Sixers and Celtics in the Finals the next two seasons, 1983 was Pat Riley's first full season at the helm. That was the year Pat took Jack McKinney’s genius fast-breaking scheme (Paul Westhead put a lid on it in ’81 and the start of ’82) to dizzying new extremes: Worthy, perhaps the fastest forward in the game at the time, was the perfect complement to Magic Johnson on the wing, and together with Kareem, the Showtime Lakers were spawned. Johnson, as most know, would capture three MVPs in this span, but while Magic and Worthy would reach the Finals once more without Kareem, they weren’t ever able to kiss the Larry O’Brien Trophy in triumph after Kareem’s swan song in ’89.

2. Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili (2003-2015)

Team: San Antonio Spurs

Resume: 4 titles and 5 Finals appearances

There are going to be some who think San Antonio should be listed at No. 4 on this list, and we should move the Lakers and Celtics '80s powerhouses up a slot. But when you’re the winningest trio in NBA history with one more championship than either trio—11 years after their first one together and against another team on this list—you get the spot. This team never once failed to win 50 games in a season together and it’s clear why. Tim Duncan is the greatest power forward of all time; Manu Ginobili is the greatest Sixth Man of all time (sorry Jamal), an Olympic gold medalist and perhaps the most unique player of all time; Tony Parker is a Finals MVP, a 6-time All-Star and 3-time All-NBA Second Team selection. Collectively, mixing one of the greatest leaders in NBA history with two of the top foreign-born players in NBA history, and under the sardonic and irritated visage of Gregg Popovich (he could care less if you call his guys a super team), they formed the second best Big Three of the modern era. The only thing keeping them from the top slot is the G.O.A.T. with an apex supporting cast.

1. Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman (1996-1998)

Team: Chicago Bulls

Resume: 3 titles and 3 Finals appearances

Yes, even compared to LeBron’s Heat tenure, this is a brief window of preeminence, especially in comparison to the trio right behind them. But Chicago’s three-year reign lines up too perfectly with the Big Three moniker we’re talking about, and their supremacy is unquestioned. Also, Michael Jordan.

Do we even need to mention about what these three did as individuals? Tossing aside the team awards they won in their first title go-a rounds—collectively, they’ve won a combined 17 championships in the NBA—the Cerberus of Jordan, Pippen and Rodman set the record for most regular season wins AND won a title in 1996. (The Seattle Supersonics—R.I.P.—did not come back from a 3-1 deficit, though they won two in a row after going down 3-0, and Gary Payton remained sentient after spending a lot of time talking junk to MJ, thereby becoming the most fearless Oakland alum in NBA history—sorry Dame.)

Looking back, it’s the defense that’s the most overlooked part of this team. Rodman was an annoying, undersized, whip-smart worm in the paint, and Michael teamed with Scottie and legal hand checking to form the most terrifying defensive backcourt in NBA history. In ’96, the Bulls led the NBA in defensive and offensive rating and their 12.24 point margin of victory dwarfed the No. 2 team (Seattle at 7.79). The next year they again led the league in margin of victory and offensive rating and were No. 5 in defensive rating. Oh yeah, they also won a ho-hum 69 games— tied for the second-most in NBA history at the time. They went 15-4 in the playoffs that year on their way to their second consecutive title.

The third season saw Michael again lead the league in scoring, though he ceded the MVP to Karl Malone, and Rodman again led the league in rebounding. But as a collective team, they fell off from their earlier mastery, finishing third in margin of victory, and outside the top-2 in offensive and defensive rating. The slog of three-straight seasons playing into June is real, so think about that the next time you give LeBron a hard time for coasting in a random November game. Plus, Scottie started the 1997-98 campaign on the bench after waiting until October to have surgery on his toe—thereby sticking it to GM Jerry Krause and Bulls ownership for not renegotiating his abysmal contract. (Before you take Krause’s position, please know that Luc Longley, yes him, made over a half million dollars more than Scottie the season before).

Yet, even after getting pushed to the first Game 7 Pippen or Jordan had played in since winning their first NBA title by the Larry Bird-coached Pacers in the Eastern Conference finals, they still managed to win a third title.

They’re the greatest Big Three in NBA history.