LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh made up an era-defining team in 2010 when they teamed up in Miami. Dubbed “The Heatles” the team featured prime LeBron James, prime Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh at the height of his defensive powers. They formed the original ‘Super Team’ and captured two championships together before disbanding.
James and Wade were at the forefront of this deadly squad and quickly turned into the most talented pair of teammates the NBA has ever seen, barring maybe Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen. Coached by Erik Spoelstra, the team was dominant from the start, however, they didn’t have the greatest debut losing to the inferior Mavericks in the 2011 NBA finals but they used that disappointment to fuel their next 2 years.
Both Lebron James and Dwayne Wade averaged over 20 points per game for 3 years
LeBron James chose to sign with the Miami Heat back in 2010, amidst the television special “The Decision,” which highlighted the process that James took to decide to sign with the Heat. The leading factor of course being, was the chance to team up with his draft classmate Dwayne Wade. His decision triggered a chain reaction, which then made star center Chris Bosh also sign with the team.
The Heatles were a statistical powerhouse, although biased toward the offensive side of the ball. James and Wade were the leading scorers of the team nearly every season played together. Their first season together which is the 2010 – 2011 NBA season, is statistically their best combined. James averaged 26.7 points, 7 assists, and 7.5 rebounds. Wade averaged 26.5 points, 4.6 assists, and 6.4 rebounds.
In their first season, James led the team in scoring and passing with Bosh leading them in rebounds averaging 8.3 a game. A fact establishing their dominance is that in the 4 years, the Big Three played together, they managed to make the first seed in the Eastern Conference every single year.
The pair were also named to the All-Star game every single year. James was entering the prime of his career and was just beginning to realize his scoring prowess, so his PPG only trended upward every year. Wade on the other hand was towards the back end of his career and after three strong seasons averaging 20 plus points per game, he dropped to 19 in the 2013-2014 season.
Coming to the most important aspect of every great team, the rings. James and Wade were able to win two championships together in their four years played. They did it all in 2012 and 2013, winning back-to-back Larry O’Briens as the uncontested best team in the NBA and one of the greatest in the history of basketball itself.