It's become common to rail against recent champions in the NBA such as the Miami Heat and the Boston Celtics, mainly because critics want to accuse these franchises of buying titles. When Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen came together in Boston, there were cries of conspiracy between then-Minnesota Timberwolves GM Kevin McHale and Boston's GM Danny Ainge. In Miami during the summer of 2010, Dwayne Wade, Chris Bosh, LeBron James, and Pat Riley were accused of colluding to form their own Big Three.
Now, the same grumblings have cropped up in Cleveland, where the arrival of Kevin Love gives the Cavaliers a championship-caliber trio, putting Love alongside James and Kyrie Irving.
However, speaking with Complex's own Gerald Flores at a special media event for the Nike LeBron 12s, James declared Big Threes to be old business.
"A Big Three isn’t new in our league," said James. "A Big Three has been going on forever. You’ve had Jerry West, Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain. You've had Jordan Pippen, Rodman, and then Jordan, Pippen, Kukoc. This Big Three thing has been around forever. It’s like dinosaurs. You can even go back to Havlicek, Russell, and Bob Cousy. It’s not new. Everyone just wants to make it a thing now."
As you'll notice, James made sure to mention Michael Jordan. Oftentimes, the criticism against LeBron has been that he couldn't lead a team to a championship on his own in the same way that Jordan did. But, as he points out, even Jordan needed some help from some seriously talented teammates in order to win the NBA title. He raises a fair point.
