2000s NBA superstar discloses Heat’s Big 3 had grand plan to unite in New York before James Dolan made huge mistake

Former Washington Wizards guard Gilbert Arenas, who made three All-Star appearances in the 2000s, claimed that LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh were planning on teaming up on the New York Knicks instead of the Miami Heat at one point before a major blunder from Knicks owner James Dolan ruined their plans.

“When Dwyane Wade, Bosh and LeBron decided to team up, they was not playing in someone city so they can all be fresh,” Arenas said of the trio’s intentions to join forces in New York. “So they were planning on going to New York together. And what happened is because they didn’t tell anyone, Dolan made a mistake by paying Amar’e Stoudemire.

“They didn’t want to play with Amar’e Stoudemire because they had they own goddamn Big 3. So, because New York f—– it up, they called Micky [Arison] and say, ‘Hey, Micky. This is what we wanna do. Can you make it happen?’ And then made it work — if you knew what was going on then, you would have known New York dropped the ball because of — they offer Mike Miller all that money because they knew Mike Miller was part of the group. Miami stole him. [Udonis] Haslem rejected his deal once he got wind — took the pay cut, signed last to come back. They were all moving together.”

In the 2010 offseason, the Knicks signed Stoudemire to a five-year contract worth over $100 million. Coming off a season in which he averaged 23.1 points and 8.9 rebounds per game while playing for the Phoenix Suns, Stoudemire was in high demand. Injuries hampered Stoudemire’s final years in New York, but in his first season with the Knicks (2010)–11, he played at a level few players at his position could equal.

In 78 games during the 2010–11 regular season, he averaged 25.3 points, 8.2 rebounds, and 1.9 blocks per game. In addition to leading the Knicks to their first postseason trip since 2004, Stoudemire had a stellar rookie campaign, going nine games without a 30-plus point effort.

But after his splendid 2010-11 regular season, Stoudemire never played in more than 65 games in any single season in New York, and the Knicks won just one playoff series during his stint with the team.

The collective success that the Heat enjoyed with James, Wade and Bosh on the roster suggests that Dolan made made a mistake by signing Stoudemire before the Big 3 had signed a formal contract with the Heat.

During their four seasons together, the Big Three made it to the NBA Finals each time. During that time, Miami defeated the Oklahoma City Thunder in 2012 and the San Antonio Spurs in 2013, but their two losses in the NBA Finals came against the Dallas Mavericks in 2011 and the San Antonio Spurs in 2014.

The Big 3 era in Miami came to an end shortly after James made the decision to rejoin the Cleveland Cavaliers to play alongside Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love after Miami’s five-game championship series loss to the Spurs.