Mar 15, 2013; Milwaukee, WI, USA; Miami Heat forward LeBron James (6) reacts with center Chris Bosh (1) and guard Dwyane Wade (3) after a Heat basket during the game against the Milwaukee Bucks at the Bradley Center. The Heat beat the Bucks 107-94. Mandatory Credit: Benny Sieu-Imagn Images Benny Sieu-Imagn Images

Dwyane Wade Reveals How Miami Heat Big Three Was Assembled

Originally posted on Miami Heat on SI | By Alex Toledo | Last updated May 26, 2025 7:40 PM ET

We may never again see a free agency class with the amount of combined star power and unpredictability from the NBA summer of 2010. The Miami Heat came out victorious, with a new big three in hand featuring LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

In his interview with Pardon My Take, Wade was asked if there was a third option if Bosh opted to play elsewhere.

"Once people start getting a little inside that we were thinking about playing together, you know, we got a couple calls. So we'd get calls from Amar'e. Amar'e was a free agent, Boozer was a free agent, and so we had to look and see if those personalities and those talents, if it, obviously, worked with us," Wade said. "Bron and I were both committed to playing together, once we committed to playing together, and it was really important who that third person was, and we knew all along that if we were gonna do this, that Chris Bosh was the choice."

Dwyane Wade explains how the Big 3 really came together

Chris Bosh wavered a few times on joining up

Group didn’t discuss teaming up until that summer despite rumors of 08 Olympics being the start of the idea

Amare/Boozer were potential Bosh replacements

(Via @PardonMyTake) pic.twitter.com/LHSVTVa5NV
— Heat Culture (@HeatCulture13) May 26, 2025

"Bron talked to Boozer. They had already played together in Cleveland, and I talked to Amar'e because me and Amar'e, we had a cool relationship. I actually was trying to get Amar'e there the year before, I was trying to get Amar'e to the Heat before," Wade said. "This was the 2009 All-Star Weekend, I was trying to get us to trade for Amar'e. I was like 'Let's do it now' and the Heat was like 'Nah we trying to be patient' and so I'm like 'All right well, patient gonna get me out the door.' So, it didn't work but Amar'e, Bron and I, it would've been dominant, but at the same time, it's a totally different game than Chris Bosh."

Stoudemire averaged 23 points and 8.9 rebounds for the Phoenix Suns in the 2009-2010 season. Boozer was putting up 19.5 points and 11.2 rebounds per game for the Utah Jazz. In his last season with the Toronto Raptors, Bosh averaged 24 points and 10.8 rebounds.

"He wasn't like another option from the standpoint of this is our first option. Just because of our talents already together, it was hard to envision how we're both gonna be successful at the same time because we're both ball dominant guys," Wade said. "You need somebody else to kind of relieve that and Chris Bosh was the reliever in that for us, more than Amar'e or more than even Boozer."