It’s hard to believe but its been 5 years since Pat Riley and the Miami Heat were able to put together a team that most fans wished they could have. Soon after “the Decision”, the Heat held their “Welcome” fan event where they introduced the new “Big 3” of the NBA. Sure the league has seen “Big 3’s” before, but most of the time two of the three or all three players were home-grown talents. This time the players and a shrewd general manager seemed to have planned the formation for years.
LeBron James, the league’s best player, left his home of Ohio along with Chris Bosh to join Dwyane Wade in South Beach. If you were not a Miami Heat fan and especially if you were a Cavaliers fan, you hated what was going on. On the other end of the spectrum the folks at Nike and Jordan Brand saw two of their signature athletes on the same team and in good-sized media market. What was a bit strange was the footwear choices during the introduction though. Wade kept it 100 by wearing the signature model Air Jordan 2010 during the event. But LeBron forgo his signature line and went with the less popular Huarache 2010. And Bosh went with an even more basic model, a black and white pair of the Air Max Hyperfly.
LeBron probably had nightmares of his “not 2, not 3, not 4….” statement, however 2 ain’t bad. The formation of the latest “Big 3” maybe have only lasted four seasons, but it gave the NBA and fans quite a storyline. New team, new number, all new ball game. And in the end anyone who burned LeBron’s jersey had good reason to get a new one.
