The NBA has several Big 3s to boast about, and the Heatles is one of the most famous. While it initially brought a lot of criticism, the Big Three eventually went on to win two NBA titles. Following this, there were other Big Threes as well, with the most notable being Kevin Durant joining the Warriors. This trio also received mixed reactions. However, the criticism was seemingly much less compared to the Heatles, and that is still very baffling to Udonis Haslem, who was also part of the iconic team.

Haslem played a very crucial role in supporting the Big Three, helping lead the Miami Heat to back-to-back championship titles in 2012 and 2013. Haslem also closely witnessed the criticism that LeBron James and the team received when King James moved from the Cleveland Cavaliers to the Miami Heat. Through the infamous broadcast “The Decision,” LeBron James announced that he would be heading to the Heat, saying, “I’m gonna take my talents to South Beach.”

In a recent episode of the OG’s podcast, Haslem questioned why the Heat were criticized so much, while on the other hand, Kevin Durant, who left the Oklahoma City Thunder and joined the Golden State Warriors to team up with Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson, was encouraged. After expressing his confusion, Haslem joked that he initially thought the reason was because Curry and Thompson were light-skinned.

“I thought it was cuz Steph and Clay was light skinned that’s what I thought I’m just being honest see you know it was going around here. We go that lightskin, I had the undercurrent of it,” Haslem joked as he added that the teams might have perceived differently.

However, a much more pronounced reason could also be time. James and Wade had a cultural presence and, most importantly, were among the pioneers to achieve success by forming the Big Three. Dwyane Wade, James, and Bosh celebrating the move was not seen in a good light. However, by the time Durant joined in 2016, people were likely much more accepting of it. Mike Miller explained, “I think the reality is like they hated us so much for doing it that they had to love someone else to do it for again right like they hated us for doing it.”

Did you know that the three might not have landed in Miami?

What were the possible locations for the Big Three?

Initially, Wade had thought about moving to the Chicago Bulls during the free agency period in 2010. The two would have been paired with then-rising star Derrick Rose. Wade wanted to play and lead his hometown team to victory. 

“I was actually leaving Miami at that time. Because I didn’t think that nobody out there was going to help us get to that level. Not that they weren’t good players, I just didn’t think it was enough,” Wade said on a segment of the OG’s podcast. However, one phone call from James changed his decision. He further said, “And for me, my hometown team could win, so I was like, ‘Man, I’m going back home. I’m going to Chicago.’ That was my mentality of going into Free Agency outside of Miami… But, I got that call, man; I got that call from Number 6.”

On the other hand, the Miami Heat were the only team at the time that could afford three superstars. As per Gilbert Arenas, the trio also had plans to play for the Knicks, but it didn’t work out due to a mistake by Knicks owner James Dolan. It is unknown how Wade was convinced, but we saw the three come together for the Heat. It wasn’t easy at first for the trio. However, slowly the team found its pace, and a legend witnessed!