They didn't make the playoffs in the other one, 2004-05.Had the peaks of Miller, Jalen Rose and Jermaine O'Neal all crossed paths at the same time, and for longer than two seasons, they'd almost certainly have this spot. 3. After all, Kareem and Big O are both arguably top 10 players in the history of the game, while Dandridge has a legitimate case for the NBA Hall of Fame given his career stat line of 18.5 points, 6.8 rebounds and 3.4 assists per game. It may not be too long before a new trio takes this spot, though, as Zion Williamson, Brandon Ingram, Jrue Holiday and Lonzo Ball are all looking to make the Pelicans a terrifying team for years to come.Though the Nets of the early 2000s had better team success, as Jason Kidd led a group of very good players including Richard Jefferson, Kerry Kittles and Kenyon Martin to two consecutive NBA Finals, the team's best star trio came immediately after those three consecutive first-place finishes from 2001 to 2003. Had they all been at their peak -- Dirk and Nash would have to have been a little older -- this trio probably would have picked up at least one Finals ring.Fat Lever's strong play in the late 80s came a little bit after this trio's time together, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention Lever and his importance to Denver's success.
In any case, while Jordan's 115.3 win shares dominated the trio's time together, both Grant (62.4 WS) and Pippen (55.3 WS) played extremely important roles.The Lakers' worst season in this stretch came in 1983-84, when they finished first with a 54-28 record and lost in the Finals.
But before this year, this trio absolutely dominated the NBA. But that's the fun of it!Though the best Hornets team may have been the early 2000s roster led by Paul Silas, the most exciting trio of players comes down to the early 90s squad featuring Hall of Fame center Alonzo Mourning. But before that, the Bullets were regulars at the top of the standings, capturing the franchise's lone Finals ring in 1977-78 and appearing in two others. 1996 Bulls, 2001 Lakers, 1986 Celtics. Though the playoffs ultimately weren't too kind -- they made five straight postseasons from 2013-2014 to 2017-18, but only made it to the conference finals once -- Toronto asserted themselves as the best team in the Atlantic Division year after year thanks to the consistent play of these three stars.The Magic were utterly dominant for this brief span in the 90s, just four years after the franchise's birth in the 1989-90 season. That was the There were obviously some other trios to consider for Boston.
The team's most recent Finals victory and the most exciting era in Sixers basketball history. Still, this trio won it all without Durant, and will look to do it again with a potential big-name acquisition in the near future.Though they couldn't achieve the three-peat, they were able to record a Finals appearance four-peat in a four-year span, which sums up just how dangerous this trio was. Gasol, Conley and Z-Bo led the Grizzlies to seven straight playoff appearances from 2010-11 to 2016-17, but only made it to the conference finals once.There were other trios I had to consider, including those of Josh Smith, Joe Johnson and Al Horford, and Dominique Wilkins, Doc Rivers and Tree Rollins, but ultimately the earliest team was the one that boasted the best threesome.
That would be no fun. But that's not to say that those Memphis teams were bad. Over the seven-year span above, Grant averaged more points, steals and blocks per game than Rodman did in his three Chicago seasons, though Rodman dominated in the rebounding department. You've got post domination in Moses Malone, you've got athleticism and veteran leadership in Dr. J, and you've got lockdown perimeter defense and great ball facilitation in Mo Cheeks. But the best Pacers teams, including the 1999-00 Finals team and the 56-26 2013-14 roster, relied on a lot of balance despite the presence of stars like Miller and Paul George.
Seattle's Gary Payton, Shawn Kemp and Detlef Schrempf were close, but didn't quite bring the same star power that KD, Russ and the shot-blocking machine Ibaka brought to the table.There was only one losing season in this span, and it came at the very end of the stretch (39-43 in 1979-80 season). Sure, the presences of Dick Barnett, Bill Bradley and Earl Monroe (later on) helped with those strong displays, but the core three of Frazier (81.7 WS), Reed (47.9) and DeBusschere (34.9) were the primary guys to thank.You can bump up that WS per season average, considering 2019-20 was a complete lost cause. With the Heat's current group of talent, including Jimmy Butler, Bam Adebayo and several rookies (Kendrick Nunn, Duncan Robinson, Tyler Herro), you have to wonder if this team will be able to replicate the success of this Big 3 -- even just If we were talking about the greatest teammate duos -- which might be a fun separate list -- then it would be hard not to consider Tim Duncan and David Robinson for another top five spot. Olajuwon was the leader in win shares in every year but the first (when Thorpe had 10.4), but all three contributed in a big way and helped earn head coach Rudy Tomjanovich two Finals rings toward the end of the stretch.There was no sports crowd like an OKC home crowd during the playoffs.