The Miami Heat “Big 3” of Dwyane Wade, LeBron James, and Chris Bosh led the team to four straight NBA Finals appearances from 2011 to 2014 and won back-to-back NBA titles in 2012 and 2013. However, as D-Wade revealed during his recent appearance on the “Pardon My Take” podcast, history would have been different if he had his way.
Before that unforgettable 2010 free agency, Wade admitted that he had asked the Heat to trade for Phoenix Suns All-Star forward Amar’e Stoudemire during the 2009 trade deadline. Team officials denied his request, knowing that the free agent pool in 2010 would be a gold mine.
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“I actually was trying to get Amar’e there the year before,” revealed D-Wade. “I was trying to get Amar’e to the Heat before. This was the 2009 All-Star weekend, I was trying to get us trade for Amar’e. I’m like, ‘Let’s do it now.’ And the Heat was like, ‘Nah, we’re trying to be patient.’ And I’m like, ‘All right, patience will get me out of that door.'”
Amar’e was from Florida
Wade was getting impatient in 2009 because after winning the championship in 2006, the Heat were swept by the Chicago Bulls in the first round of the 2007 playoffs and were a disastrous 15-67 during the 2008 campaign. Shaquille O’Neal was traded to the Phoenix Suns midseason, and Dwyane wanted a second star to get Miami back in contention.
Stoudemire had played his entire career with the Suns up to that point. But after the contract extension negotiations hit a stalemate, “S.T.A.T.” wanted out. Being from Florida, he liked the idea of playing for the Heat. However, because Amar’e was also going to be a free agent in 2010, the front office told Wade they were going to wait until the following summer before making a move.
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“It didn’t work. But Amar’e, Bron, and I would have been dominant, but at the same time, it’s a totally different game than Chris Bosh,” added Wade.
Bosh became the third star
The Heat waited for 2010 and ended up getting James and Bosh to play alongside Wade. However, as Dwyane also recently revealed, before they signed James and Bosh, Stoudemire and Carlos Boozer reached out to Miami to offer their services.
“Once people got a little inside (info) that we were thinking about playing together, we got a couple of calls. So we get calls from… Amar’e was a free agent, Boozer was a free agent,” said Wade. “And so we had to look if those personalities and those talents if it obviously worked with us because I think, it was ‘Bron and I who were committed to playing together.”
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The trio of Wade, James, and Stoudemire would have been a must-see TV type of thing, and they would have also been dominant. However, Bosh complemented the games of Bron and D-Wade because he did not need the ball to be successful. That’s why, despite sacrificing his scoring, CB still found ways to affect games. It would have been different with “S.T.A.T.” Thankfully, the Heat made the right call, and “The Flash” won two more chips in the “Big 3” era.