When LeBron James joined the Miami Heat in 2010 and took Chris Bosh with him, it shattered the NBA’s landscape in more ways than one.
The Miami trio of James, Bosh and Dwyane Wade were immediately hailed by some as the greatest collection of superstar talent in NBA history. Amidst an unprecedented amount of hype and anticipation, the Heat fell hard in the 2011 NBA Finals, only to claim the next two world championships.
The three luminaries were reportedly planning to team up for a few years in advance. However, according to Gilbert Arenas, they were originally looking to join forces on the New York Knicks.
Unfortunately for them, Knicks owner James Dolan made a fatal mistake that torpedoed the team’s chances of landing the three superstars (h/t Heat Nation).
“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 [expletive] 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.”
At the time, the Knicks had been laughingstocks for several years. Hall of Famer Patrick Ewing had left in 2000, and since then, they had made the playoffs twice while failing to get past the first round.
Landing James, Bosh and Wade would’ve instantly restored the Knicks’ credibility and dignity. Instead, they would have to struggle for another decade while fans kept calling for Dolan to sell the team.
Luckily, now New York has a very good team with a real soul and identity that seems to have the beginnings of a potential championship contender. But it could’ve recast the basketball world’s spotlight on itself a while back while allowing James to possibly become the toast of the Big Apple.
