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Three is the Magic Number?


So says ESPN in their recent advertising campaign, to announce the rebranding of their online 360 channel into ESPN3. ESPN3 has diverse programming including poker telecasts and off market NBA games. In Miami, LeBron James, Dwayne Wade, and Chris Bosh hope that the theory of three holds true. So does ESPN who probably can?t wait to televise their games in between World Series of Poker hands..

Just as in poker where a pair is good but three of a kind is better, the new Heat have some precedent to believe it. In recent (and distant) NBA history, there have been plenty of examples of a core group of three stars working together to win a championship. This may be the first example of three players having a summit to make it happen on their own accord but management has often pushed for three studs to in turn push their franchise over the hump.

In the not too far past, the stars aligned for the Boston Celtics to land Paul Pierce, Kevin Garnett, and Ray Allen. Three all stars who had never been able to lead a team to their championship on their own discovered with teamwork and the balance of each others diverse skill-sets they?d have enough to get there. What is similar to the Miami three is these guys represented two of the very best from their era and one guy not far behind and they all went into the endeavor willing to sacrifice individual numbers for the team goal of winning championships.

True, Garnett and Pierce won the title at the tail end of their career arcs but for a while they were as good as anybody in the NBA. Allen may not have shone as brightly elsewhere but to league insiders he was just as valuable. The same can be said for James and Wade with Bosh just a step behind them in the league hierarchy.

Recently, Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson both said they?d never dream of playing with their rivals preferring to beat them rather then playing alongside of them. There is some truth to that and but at the same time perhaps, some chest-thumping revisionist history. Why? If Michael, Magic, or Larry Bird ever gave thought to leaving town in their prime, you can bet the other two would have been driving the welcome wagon. Save a select few examples the only thing that has changed is stars leaving town.

Secondly, none of those three had to leave to get a core of three. Let?s start with Magic Johnson. His teammates for most of his career included two of the 50 players of the first 50 years of the NBA. Kareem Abdul Jabar earns plaudits from some as the greatest player ever and he welcomed Magic into the league with a loaded Lakers team that was able to win a championship with the Rookie playing center in game seven of his first NBA finals.

Joining them was James ?Big Game? Worthy who played second, or perhaps, third banana maybe better than anyone not named Scottie Pippen. Like Pippen, who without Jordan, took Chicago deep into the playoffs on his own, Worthy probably could have shined brighter than most of the league if he were on a team of his own. Magic didn?t have to recruit all stars Jerry Buss did that for him.

While Magic might parse his statement to make Bosh and Wade the equal of Magic and Michael, clearly they weren?t. Wade might be in that category for LeBron but Bosh is not. To suggest any of the three stars from the 80s early 90s wouldn?t have chased a big man like Bosh, would be like saying Dr. J, Andrew Toney, and Moses Malone didn?t recognize the value of playing together in Philadelphia.

To Be Continued?

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