The 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing were special for Team USA. The women’s national team had just won its fourth consecutive gold, while the men’s team – known as the Redeem Team – reminded the world of its dominance, reclaiming the title they had lost to Argentina in 2004.
Now, over a decade has passed, and Seattle Storm legend Sue Bird looked back on Team USA’s collective triumph.
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Recently, on “Pablo Torre Finds Out,” she recalled a historic moment that would forever change the legacies of several NBA superstars: the formation of the Miami Heat‘s Big Three – a historic moment she completely missed at the time.
One random night with D-Wade
After Team USA won in both basketball divisions, Bird said Heat superstar Dwyane Wade started randomly talking to her about the NBA free agency one random night.
“He’s like, ‘We all opted out. So because we opted out, we’re all going to be free agents at the same time,'” the four-time WNBA champion narrated. “I was like, ‘Oh, interesting.’ He didn’t actually make reference to them joining… It was him, Chris and LeBron, for sure.”
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Wade was referencing the moment when he, LeBron James (Cleveland Cavaliers) and Chris Bosh (Toronto Raptors) all signed three-year extensions with their respective teams in 2006, the year Miami began planning the Big Three era. The extension came with a player option that could make them free agents in 2010.
Looking back on her conversation with the Wade, she finally realized that the storm that was brewing right before her eyes in Beijing. Two years after the Olympics, the Heat landed free agents James and Bosh, forming the iconic trio.
“I didn’t know in the moment that they were plotting. But then you rewind, you look back on that conversation, I was like, ‘Oh my God,'” she said. “I saw the genesis of the super team, the Big Three. We can all be free agents at the same time. I was like, ‘Cool. Whatever.'”
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According to Bird, Wade also mentioned Carmelo Anthony during their Big Three conversation. However, because he signed a longer extension with the Denver Nuggets in 2006, he was left out when they teamed up in 2010.
The rest was history
The Heat had a rough start with the three, falling to the Dirk Nowitzki-led Dallas Mavericks in the 2011 Finals.
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The 2011-12 season marked a turning point for the team. Miami cruised past the first two rounds before surviving the Boston Celtics – led by their own Big Three of Paul Pierce, Ray Allen and Kevin Garnett – in the Eastern Conference finals, toppling them in seven games.
In the Finals, Miami then took down the young Oklahoma City Thunder in five games, clinching its first title with the James-Wade-Bosh trio. The three would lead the Heat again in the next season, asserting their dominance over the San Antonio Spurs in the 2013 Finals to secure back-to-back championships.
The Spurs would exact revenge the next year, signalling the end of the Heatles.
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James went back to Cleveland, while Wade and Bosh stayed in Miami.
Now, having seen how truly special the Heatles were, Bird will forever remember the moment she witnessed the trio slowly come together – and the time she just shrugged it off.
This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Oct 25, 2025, where it first appeared in the Old School section. Add Basketball Network as a Preferred Source by clicking here.