Poll: Best big 3 in NBA history

[Somebody]

Wow surprised no votes for the Miami Big 3 lol. Four straight NBA Finals appearances, but end up going 2-2.

I was surprised as well, they were another really strong trio. Think people penalise that trio for not winning in 2011 when Wade was still near the peak of his powers (they won in '12 and '13, but Wade was no longer that MVP engine).

I think in comparison to some of the other "third bananas" on the list, Bosh might not necessarily be seen in the strongest light.

True, but was he that much worse than the other "third bananas"? Kareem was no longer the MVP force he was in '86-'88, ditto for Baylor in '69 and Rodman/Love/Parish were in the All-Star range that Miami Bosh was in.

[greg683x]

The Spurs fly so much under the radar when it comes to these discussions.  That trio won 4 rings and stayed dominant over a 14 year period.


As much as I hate to say it.  Byrant, Gasol, and Bynum belong on this list.  More so than Lebron, Kyrie and Love do at least

[Jvalin]

The Spurs fly so much under the radar when it comes to these discussions.  That trio won 4 rings and stayed dominant over a 14 year period.


As much as I hate to say it.  Byrant, Gasol, and Bynum belong on this list.  More so than Lebron, Kyrie and Love do at least

Really don't think the Bryant-Gasol-Bynum trio belongs in the conversation, but maybe that's just me cause I was never a fan of Kobe.

We agree that I shouldn't have included the Cavs big 3. Not over the Bucks big 3 anyway. Only reason I included them is recency bias. I removed them from the poll and added them in the honorable mentions list.

A bit perplexed as to why the Steph-KD-Klay trio isn't getting any votes at all. You have a player who's a candidate for the title of GOAT offensive player and another perennial MVP favourite who's just a rung below those GOAT candidates on offence spearheading a trio with a perfect complementary All-NBA wing as their lackey - that trio is just insane lol.

I'm very high on the Warriors too. If we were talking big 4 instead of big 3, they'd probably be my #1 choice.

No love for MJ and the Bulls? Didn't expect that, especially in the midst of ''The Last Dance'' series.

[greg683x]

The Spurs fly so much under the radar when it comes to these discussions.  That trio won 4 rings and stayed dominant over a 14 year period.


As much as I hate to say it.  Byrant, Gasol, and Bynum belong on this list.  More so than Lebron, Kyrie and Love do at least

Really don't think the Bryant-Gasol-Bynum trio belongs in the conversation, but maybe that's just me cause I was never a fan of Kobe.

We agree that I shouldn't have included the Cavs big 3. Not over the Bucks big 3 anyway. Only reason I included them is recency bias. I removed them from the poll and added them in the honorable mentions list.

A bit perplexed as to why the Steph-KD-Klay trio isn't getting any votes at all. You have a player who's a candidate for the title of GOAT offensive player and another perennial MVP favourite who's just a rung below those GOAT candidates on offence spearheading a trio with a perfect complementary All-NBA wing as their lackey - that trio is just insane lol.

I'm very high on the Warriors too. If we were talking big 4 instead of big 3, they'd probably be my #1 choice.

No love for MJ and the Bulls? Didn't expect that, especially in the midst of ''The Last Dance'' series.

so if Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum dont belong in the conversation, why do KG, Pierce, and Allen belong in the conversation?

[SparzWizard]

The Spurs fly so much under the radar when it comes to these discussions.  That trio won 4 rings and stayed dominant over a 14 year period.


As much as I hate to say it.  Byrant, Gasol, and Bynum belong on this list.  More so than Lebron, Kyrie and Love do at least

Really don't think the Bryant-Gasol-Bynum trio belongs in the conversation, but maybe that's just me cause I was never a fan of Kobe.

We agree that I shouldn't have included the Cavs big 3. Not over the Bucks big 3 anyway. Only reason I included them is recency bias. I removed them from the poll and added them in the honorable mentions list.

A bit perplexed as to why the Steph-KD-Klay trio isn't getting any votes at all. You have a player who's a candidate for the title of GOAT offensive player and another perennial MVP favourite who's just a rung below those GOAT candidates on offence spearheading a trio with a perfect complementary All-NBA wing as their lackey - that trio is just insane lol.

I'm very high on the Warriors too. If we were talking big 4 instead of big 3, they'd probably be my #1 choice.

No love for MJ and the Bulls? Didn't expect that, especially in the midst of ''The Last Dance'' series.

so if Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum dont belong in the conversation, why do KG, Pierce, and Allen belong in the conversation?

Can we add Bryant/Gasol/Bynum/Odom/Artest? Artest was how the Celtics got killed in 2010. The Finals MVP, which was supposed to belong to Pau Gasol, was stolen by Kobe Bryant after his pitiful Game 7 performance.

But in my eyes, the Celtics won Game 7 in LA. If the referees didn't rig the free-throw disparity in the 4th quarter the C's would be hoisting the Larry O'Brien trophy at Staples Center.

[greg683x]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

[gouki88]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

In terms of instantly coming together to win a championship and transforming the entire culture of a somewhat woeful franchise at the time, the '08 Big 3 is probably #1. That's the obvious difference.

And that they should have won more

[Somebody]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

so if Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum dont belong in the conversation, why do KG, Pierce, and Allen belong in the conversation?

They're not in the conversation because Bynum missed the '08 playoffs and post '08 Kobe was a level below the "first options" in this list, including '08 KG.

[tenn_smoothie]

I voted for Russell's Celtics' 3 (they defeated all comers) and I agree that Russ, Hondo and Sam Jones should be on this list.
Bird, Parish, McHale, along with +1 Max, were without question the best frontline I think we will ever see.

[greg683x]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

so if Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum dont belong in the conversation, why do KG, Pierce, and Allen belong in the conversation?

They're not in the conversation because Bynum missed the '08 playoffs and post '08 Kobe was a level below the "first options" in this list, including '08 KG.

And Garnett wasn’t a level below post ‘08? Or post ‘08 and half of ‘09 if you want to split hairs

Bynum missing the ‘08 playoffs is a knock against the Celtics big 3 not against the big 3 of Bynum, Gasol, and Bryant.  Though don’t get me wrong the Cs still would have won if he had been there.  But it takes nothing away from the fact that the trio won back to back titles

We can all agree to disagree but there’s clearly some bias going on here. And I get it, this is a Celtics forum and we all hate that team, but these excuses are borderline hilarious. Especially since my point was only that they should’ve made the list if Kyrie, LeBron and Love did.

[greg683x]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

In terms of instantly coming together to win a championship and transforming the entire culture of a somewhat woeful franchise at the time, the '08 Big 3 is probably #1. That's the obvious difference.

And that they should have won more

I don’t disagree with any of this.  As much as I love the ‘08 big 3, I’ll also say, this poll isn’t about which big 3 came together fastest and transformed a teams culture. 

Look I feel terrible because I feel like I’m being forced to knock one of my favorite teams of all time, the only point I’ve been trying to make is that the ‘08 Celtics arch rival, a team that won more titles, should probably be included on the list, especially considering there’s at least one team that’s clearly inferior to them (the Cavs).

That’s the only point I was trying to make, and some of the excuses being made here are a huge reach IMO

[Somebody]

wrong quote

[SHAQATTACK]

I watched many of these combo in real time.

Bird , Chief and McHale plus Walton is my favorite group to beat anybody .

i like a young KG , Pierce , Allen ...a what if Shaq could have been Heathly just that one year .   All my years watching never have a seen a team steam roll over anybody anytime inside or outside , it almost did not seem fair when Shaq felt good , he if in perfectly with this group with Doc as coach .  I want a collection of this short era video of these Boston Shaq games.

[pearljammer10]

The Spurs fly so much under the radar when it comes to these discussions.  That trio won 4 rings and stayed dominant over a 14 year period.


As much as I hate to say it.  Byrant, Gasol, and Bynum belong on this list.  More so than Lebron, Kyrie and Love do at least

Really don't think the Bryant-Gasol-Bynum trio belongs in the conversation, but maybe that's just me cause I was never a fan of Kobe.

We agree that I shouldn't have included the Cavs big 3. Not over the Bucks big 3 anyway. Only reason I included them is recency bias. I removed them from the poll and added them in the honorable mentions list.

A bit perplexed as to why the Steph-KD-Klay trio isn't getting any votes at all. You have a player who's a candidate for the title of GOAT offensive player and another perennial MVP favourite who's just a rung below those GOAT candidates on offence spearheading a trio with a perfect complementary All-NBA wing as their lackey - that trio is just insane lol.

I'm very high on the Warriors too. If we were talking big 4 instead of big 3, they'd probably be my #1 choice.

No love for MJ and the Bulls? Didn't expect that, especially in the midst of ''The Last Dance'' series.

Was shocked the Bulls have no votes right now. I'd put them in third under Magic, Worthy, Kareem, then Bird, Mchale, Parish, then Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman.

Pippen and Rodman were (and still are) both so underrated. Especially Pippen.

[Somebody]

How does any of that have to do with whether they should be apart of this list?  Because they have too many good players?  Ron Artest averaged 11 pts a game and hit a big shot in the finals so it doesn’t count. He was a worse player than Rajon Rondo that season.  So should we take the Celtics big 3 down bc their other players were too good?

Should we remove the other big 3s that had role players hit game clinching shots in the finals?  Or bc the wrong player won MVP

so if Bryant, Gasol, and Bynum dont belong in the conversation, why do KG, Pierce, and Allen belong in the conversation?

They're not in the conversation because Bynum missed the '08 playoffs and post '08 Kobe was a level below the "first options" in this list, including '08 KG.

And Garnett wasn’t a level below post ‘08? Or post ‘08 and half of ‘09 if you want to split hairs

Bynum missing the ‘08 playoffs is a knock against the Celtics big 3 not against the big 3 of Bynum, Gasol, and Bryant.  Though don’t get me wrong the Cs still would have won if he had been there.  But it takes nothing away from the fact that the trio won back to back titles

We can all agree to disagree but there’s clearly some bias going on here. And I get it, this is a Celtics forum and we all hate that team, but these excuses are borderline hilarious. Especially since my point was only that they should’ve made the list if Kyrie, LeBron and Love did.

Oh you have a different methodology from mine. I was looking at a trio's peak year - namely the season a given triumvirate was at its best. FWIW I don't think the Cavs big 3 was particularly close to the top even though I think they're at least a level above that Lakers trio.