It will be a battle of the Big Threes in this year's NBA Finals, but where do the trios in Miami and San Antonio rank among the all-time greats? Here's a look at some mighty threesomes from NBA history.
NBA Big Threes: Trios With Top-End Talent Slideshow
Bill Russell, Bob Cousy, Tom Heinsohn
Pictured on the right-hand side of the photo, Russell, Cousy and Heinsohn won six championships together. The Boston Celtics won 11 championships overall with Russell and had other key pieces from the era, including Sam Jones and John Havlicek.
Bill Russell, John Havlicek, Sam Jones
The second Big Three of the Celtics dynasty, Jones, Havlicek and Russell (pictured from left to right) won five titles after Cousy retired in 1963 and three after Heinsohn's retirement in 1965. Jones and Havlicek regularly averaged around 20 points, and Russell supplied his trademark shot-blocking and rebounding dominance.
Jerry West, Wilt Chamberlain, Elgin Baylor
This Big Three never won a collective championship (Baylor retired nine games into the 1971-72 season), and Baylor and Chamberlain were both past their primes when they played together on the Los Angeles Lakers. Nonetheless, West, Baylor and Chamberlain may have been the best three players to ever suit up for the same team.
Dave DeBusschere, Willis Reed, Walt Frazier
DeBusschere (far left), Reed (second from right) and Frazier (far right), joined in this photo by Bill Bradley, appeared in the Finals three times in four years and won twice, in 1970 and 1973. Their New York Knicks beat the Lakers' Big Three in '70 and an older Los Angeles squad in '73.
Larry Bird, Kevin McHale, Robert Parish
Red Auerbach set this Big Three in motion by acquiring Parish and the third overall draft pick from the Golden State Warriors for the first pick in 1980. The Warriors selected Joe Barry Carroll, and the Celtics took McHale. The Boston trio won three titles together and made five Finals appearances.
Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy
Pairing arguably the greatest point guard and greatest big man in NBA history, plus another Hall of Famer in Worthy, the Lakers dominated the 1980s. Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar won titles in 1980 and 1982, and the team acquired the top pick in the '82 draft thanks to bumbling Cleveland Cavaliers owner Ted Stepien (you think Donald Sterling is bad, but Stepien has an entire rule named after him to prevent incompetence). The Lakers won three more titles with Worthy.
Isiah Thomas, Joe Dumars, Bill Laimbeer
The Detroit Pistons trio shut down Michael Jordan in the Eastern Conference playoffs for several years and won back-to-back championships in 1989 and 1990. They took the Lakers seven games in the 1988 Finals with Isiah Thomas playing on a severely sprained ankle suffered in Game 6.
Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman
For their second three-peat of the 1990s, the Chicago Bulls had arguably the greatest player of all-time (Jordan), the greatest perimeter defender of all-time (Pippen) and the greatest rebounder of all-time in the same starting lineup. They also had Phil Jackson on the sideline. Needless to say, the Bulls were just a little scary to face.
Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal, Derek Fisher
Really more so a Big Two, the Lakers still needed Fisher's scoring and presence in a sometimes contentious locker room to win three consecutive titles from 2000 to 2002. Fisher also hit his "0.4" shot in the 2004 Western Conference semifinals, paving the way for a fourth Finals appearance. But it all fell apart soon after that, and O'Neal was traded to the Miami Heat after a five-game loss to the Pistons.
Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili
With Gregg Popovich at the helm, the Spurs have been a well-oiled machine for over a decade. Duncan won a title with David Robinson in 1999 and has added three more with the point guard skills of Parker and dazzling sixth man play of Ginobili. They will try for a fourth a full six years after their last Finals appearance together in 2007, when they swept LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers.
Kevin Garnett, Paul Pierce, Ray Allen
The Garnett-Pierce-Allen combination won it all in 2008, beating the Lakers in the Finals to give Boston its first title since 1986. It made a return trip to the Finals in 2010 and lost in a seven-game series to the Lakers.
Kevin Durant, James Harden, Russell Westbrook
Oh, what might have been. The Oklahoma City Thunder Big Three never won a title and didn't get the opportunity to fully blossom together. But after Harden emerged as a superstar this season, it's easy to daydream about what three potential top-five players (with Durant certainly already there) might have accomplished.
LeBron James, Dwyane Wade, Chris Bosh
The most ballyhooed Big Three of all-time might be remembered as a Big One if James keeps playing at a superhuman level, while Wade and Bosh keep looking increasingly ordinary. Nonetheless, no one will forget about that grand entrance party to Miami in the summer of 2010.
