LeBron James knows blueprint for 76ers
BIG Threes have long been part of the NBA.
Bill Russell, Bob Cousy and Tom Heinsohn showed in Boston that having a superstar trio on the same team can work wonders.
So, too, did Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy with the Los Angeles Lakers. Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish in their Celtics era.
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Dennis Rodman in Chicago.
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili in San Antonio. Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Kevin Durant in Golden State. There have been plenty of others.
And in Miami, there was Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh and LeBron James.
They spent four years together with the Heat, went to four NBA Finals, won two championships and were the biggest thing in basketball. Many thought it would be easy. It wasn’t. Miami started 9-8 in the trio’s first season together, and the road was rocky for much longer than anyone imagined.
“It’s a wild ride,” Bosh said.
James, as he now gets set to be part of another Big Three — a Big Four, really, alongside the likes of fellow superstars Joel Embiid, Tyrese Maxey and Jaylen Brown on the now star-studded Philadelphia 76ers — remembers those early Miami days well. Perhaps that’s why he sounded the alarm about what the next few months could be like for these 76ers.
“Everyone wants instant oatmeal,” James said. “You just put the oatmeal in the bowl, you put some water and then throw it in the microwave. In a minute and a half, you’ve got something to eat, you’re ready to go. If you want to do something special, it takes time. ... In order for us to be great, we have to do things that are just not comfortable.”
Translation: Get ready, 76ers.
Such is Big Three or Big Four life.
“You really have to stay solid within the team,” said Bosh, who might have sacrificed more stats than anyone during that four-year run in Miami. “At the end of the day, the main stat was the ‘W’ and putting one in the ‘W’ column. You can average a bunch of points and be out of the league. You can average a bunch of points and not be competing for a championship. They’re going to have to remember the priority.
“And when tough times come — not if, but when — handle it and talk about it, communicate and remember why you’re there.”
There are statistical sacrifices that will have to be made if the 76ers are going to get to where they want to go this season and win the title that has eluded Philly since 1983. Even with Embiid missing more than half of the 2025–2026 season, he topped the 1,000-point mark — as did James (with the Los Angeles Lakers), Brown (with Boston), Maxey and Philly’s star-in-waiting in VJ Edgecombe. There hasn’t been a championship team with five 1,000-point scorers on the roster since the 1978–1979 Seattle SuperSonics. AP
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