1. LeBron James
Stats (2011-2014): 26.9 points, 7.6 rebounds, 6.7 assists, 1.7 steals, 54 percent shooting
James arrived in South Florida during the summer of 2010 following a very questionable television special. Soon, the Heat became the most hated team around the country, and at forefront of the criticism was no. 6.
From the moment he first stepped on the AmericanAirlines Arena floor in October, James gave his heart and soul to the organization for the next four years.
Following a successful first regular season together (he was snubbed for MVP,) James’s clutch shooting in the second round against the Celtics and Conference Finals against the Chicago Bulls propelled the Heat to its first NBA Finals appearance since 2006.
Once those Finals began, however, it was a different story for James. In what was perhaps the most epic superstar collapse we’ve ever seen, James went passive-aggressive against the underdog Dallas Mavericks, averaging only 17.1 points for the series.
Even worse? James recorded an eight-point performance in Game 4 and routinely looked severely distressed and at times, very nervous.
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He averaged just two points per game in the fourth quarter, and Dallas claimed its first ever championship on Miami’s home floor in Game 6.
In the months that followed, James received heavy (albeit deserved) criticism for his continued failures on the game’s biggest stage, and most talking heads were predicting that he would never break through this barrier that haunted him for years.
Insert 2011-12, and a completely reinvented no. 6.
James walked into the new year a revitalized man, and his joy that he always had displayed on the court found its way back.
Once the 2012 Playoffs got underway, it was a foregone conclusion Miami would be crowned champions, right?
Wrong.
Facing the Indiana Pacers in the second round, the Heat would lose Bosh in Game 1 to an abdominal strain, and he would go on to miss the rest of the series, allowing the Pacers to steal Games 2 and 3, and a 2-1 series lead.
In a must-win situation, James led Miami into Bankers Life Fieldhouse and dropped a cool 40 points, 18 rebounds, and nine assists as the Heat knotted the series up at two a piece.
They would again find themselves in another peculiar spot in the next round, except this time, it was all or nothing.
Following three consecutive defeats at the hands of the Celtics, the Heat were virtually dead in the water heading to Boston for Game 6, down 3-2.
What followed, was perhaps the greatest performance of James’s career.
Absolutely stone-faced in his demeanor, James marched into TD Garden, and in front of one of the most hostile crowds in all of sports, hit 19-of-26 shots and finished with 45 points, 15 rebounds, and five assists as Miami waltzed out of the northeast with a 19-point victory.
The Heat would conclude its bounce-back playoff run with a 4-1 series victory over the Oklahoma City Thunder, capturing James’s first championship and Finals MVP.
James would go on to be one of two players to be named regular season MVP, Finals MVP, and win an Olympic gold medal during the same year.
He would follow that epic performance with another season-long masterpiece, once again being crowned the league’s Most Valuable Player in 2013.
While his playoff run was up to the magnitude of 2012, when James was needed, he was always willing and ready.
Against Indiana, he had enormous games in Games 5 and 7, tallying 30 or more points in each and leading the Heat back to the NBA Finals for the third year in a row.
This time, standing in Miami’s way was the veteran-led San Antonio Spurs, led by arguably the greatest coach to ever grace an NBA bench.
In a thrilling, roller coaster ride of a seven-game series, the Heat pulled it out, thanks, in large part, to one of the most thrilling last-second comebacks in the history of sports.
After James had Miami roar back from down 10 at the beginning of the fourth, it appeared both he and the defending champs had simply ran out of gas.
Down five with a little over 20 seconds remaining, I remember firmly believing that this series was over, and that the Heat had come up short again.
All of a sudden, James badly misses a 3 pointer from the top of the arc, but the rebound somehow found its way to Mike Miller, who shuffle passed it back to LeBron, this time on the wing.
James connected. Two point game.
Following San Antonio’s final timeout, the Spurs managed to get the ball in to Kawhi Leonard, who at the time was just 21 years old.
He had been having a superb game, and was a pretty good free throw shooter, especially for a rookie.
The first one rimmed out.
It was as if Miami had been granted a gift from heaven, and that now was manifesting itself in both Leonard and Manu Ginobili missing late free throws.
Must we really dissect what happened next?
Long story short, Chris Bosh kicked to Ray Allen, and the rest is history.
Going in to Game 7 relaxed and loose, James let it fly. He hit 5-of-10 3 pointers, finishing the night with 37 points, 12 rebounds, and four assists and hit the series-clinching shot as Miami rebounded to claim Games 6 and 7 at home to win their second straight title.
While the Heat faired quite well in 2013-14, there just was not the same aura around that team towards the end of regular season that there had been in years prior.
While he still put up averages of 27.1 points, 6.9 rebounds, and 6.3 assists, he failed to make the All-Defensive First Team for the first time since he arrived in Miami and also fell second to Kevin Durant in the MVP voting, albeit deservingly so. He even began to suffer from the infamous back issues early in the year, which would go on to plague him even to this very day
Despite all that, the Heat coasted through the Eastern Conference Playoffs that year, despite being the second seed.
Going in to the Finals, I didn’t have a good feeling about Miami’s chances, and after two weeks and five short games, the Spurs were the 2014 champions and they ran the Heat off the floor, including sweeping them in their own building.
James’s final game in a Heat uniform came in Game 5 of that series at the AT&T Center, and his final image in black and red was one of disappointment as he walked through the tunnel to the visitor’s locker room.
He would go on to return to Cleveland less than a month later, and in what seemed like a blink of an eye, the Big 3 era was unofficially over.
For James’s legacy, it ended up being the right choice. The Cavaliers find themselves at 1-2 in the NBA Finals since his return in 2014, but winning that title in 2016 in that fashion was the icing on the cake.
A native son had returned to an area that had suffered across all major pro sports for 52 years, and to be the first team to come back from a 3-1 deficit on this stage, against a 73-9 team going for history, is an accomplishment that is simply untouchable.
Nobody in the history of the NBA had three-peated before.
Michael Jordan did it twice in one decade.
Nobody in the history of the NBA had won titles in three consecutive decades.
Then the Tim Duncan-led Spurs came along.
Nobody in the history of the NBA had ever trailed in three consecutive series and won the title.
Enter James and the Heat.
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They again made history one year later, and as we move further and further from those riveting years in the National Basketball Association, one can only wonder if we’ll ever experience anything quite like it again.
The Big 3 are here to stay in the lore of NBA history, and at the forefront was the one of the four greatest players to ever lace up a pair of sneakers, at his physical peak.