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It was the summer of 2007 when Boston Celtics' general manager, Danny Ainge, swapped several assets to combine three future Hall of Fame caliber stars on his roster to pursue the NBA title. It immediately worked and the Boston Celtics returned to glory winning the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2008.
They did so with Kevin Garnett and Ray Allen teaming with long-time Celtics’ star Paul Pierce to claim the 17th NBA title in Celtics history.
Since then, several teams have made an effort to build their roster around three main stars and chase the glory of winning it all in the NBA. The decade of the 2010s has a few shining examples of this method of roster building for success and here is a look at the five best trios of that period:
#5 Cleveland Cavaliers: LeBron James, Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love
The summer of 2014 saw the return of Cleveland’s prodigal son LeBron James signing with the Cavaliers as a free agent. The Cavaliers also traded to acquire Kevin Love, the former power forward of the Minnesota Timberwolves.
LeBron is one of the greatest players of his generation, Kyrie Irving was considered a rising young point guard and Kevin Love was an all-star power forward who was a premier rebounder and three-point shooter. The trio had instant success.
The Cavaliers managed to be the dance partner to the Golden State Warriors from 2015-2018 in the NBA Finals winning the title once in 2016. LeBron James was named the Finals MVP that year and averaged 26.3 points, 9.5 rebounds, and 7.6 assists per game in those playoffs.
Kyrie Irving was traded away from Cleveland to Boston in the summer of 2017, so he only formed part of this trio for three seasons.
#4 San Antonio Spurs: Tim Duncan, Manu Ginobili, and Tony Parker or Kawhi Leonard, 2014
This trio did not need to be manufactured by trade or free agency. It was organically created by a San Antonio Spurs management team long known for its mastery of late first-round and second-round draft pick selections to build a competitive team.
Since 1999, the Spurs have earned five Larry O’Brien Trophies and power forward Tim Duncan, shooting guard Manu Ginobili, and point guard Tony Parker was together for four of those titles.
All three players were drafted by the Spurs with Duncan going first overall in 1997, Ginobili was a second-round pick 57th overall in 1999 and Tony Parker was drafted 28th overall in 2001.
All three are now retired, with Tony Parker hanging up his boots this past June. The legacy this trio has left in the NBA is undeniably great. In addition to them leading the Spurs to four titles since 2003, this trio has also played instrumental roles in the Spurs 2013 Finals appearance in a losing effort to the Miami Heat. In a repeat of the 2013 NBA Finals, the Spurs beat the Heat in 2014
Since 2010 until Duncan’s retirement in 2016, the Spurs were playoff bound every year with three consecutive Western Conference Finals appearance (2012-2014) and two straight NBA Finals (2013 and 2014).
Together, since the start of the 2010-11 season, they also were the core nucleus of a Spurs team that won 50 or more games a season for six straight years with 60 wins or more in three of them (they had 67 in 2015/16).
One note is that Ginobili, Parker, and Duncan have been a trio together since 2002 but their 2014 NBA Title was thanks mainly to the MVP caliber of play both offensively and defensively from Kawhi Leonard.
Leonard joined the Spurs in 2011 as the 15th overall pick in the draft by Indiana who immediately arranged a trade with San Antonio. Leonard has now earned the Finals MVP twice as he helped Toronto Raptors win their first NBA title last season.
#3 Miami Heat: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh
The 2010s started in a positive but dramatic way for the Miami Heat. Team management was able to pair two of the top five members of the 2003 draft class with their draftee, Dwyane Wade. Chris Bosh and LeBron James teamed up with Wade, who had already led the Heat to an NBA title in 2006, via free agency leaving Toronto and Cleveland respectively.
The result was that for the next four years any other NBA franchise with title aspirations had to go through Miami. The Heat won back to back titles in 2012 and 2013. To illustrate just how good the team was seen in 2014 when James left via free agency to return to Cleveland. The Heat have made the playoffs just twice since then.
During the 2011-2014 Finals appearances, LeBron James was named the Finals MVP twice. Combined, the three players appeared in the four All-Star Games from 2011-2014 representing the Miami Heat. Chris Bosh’s No.1 jersey has already been retired by the team and Dwyane Wade retired at the end of last season.
#2 Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Andre Iguodala
The Golden State Warriors will have two great trios appearing on this list for this decade. It’s a testament to how dominant they have been especially in the last five seasons. The Warriors had drafted Stephen Curry in 2009 and Klay Thompson in 2011, two players who were known for their unlimited clutch shooting.
Small forward Andre Iguodala was a free agent during the summer of 2013 and the Warriors secured his name on a four-year 48 million dollar deal. In the 2013/14 season, the Warriors would win 51 games but bow out of the playoffs in the first round.
The following season the Golden State Warriors began five years of domination as they became the team to beat for the Larry O'Brien Trophy. The Warriors upped their wins total to 67 in 2014/15 and beat the LeBron James led Cleveland Cavaliers for the NBA title.
Iguodala was named the Finals MVP. The following season, the Warriors would set a regular season record winning 73 games but fell in a seven-game Finals series to the Cavaliers in the 2016 NBA Finals.
#1 Golden State Warriors: Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant
The Golden State Warriors had already established themselves as a great team with a trio of great players in Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Andre Iguodala appearing in two consecutive NBA Finals. However, in the summer of 2016, the Warriors added another megastar to their already strong in the form of Kevin Durant.
The power forward with guard skills was equally, if not more, potent a shooter than his new teammates Stephen Curry and Klay Thompson. The results were instantaneous. The 2017 and 2018 NBA titles were claimed by the Warriors after winning 67 and 58 regular season games respectively.
It was also the Warriors' latest acquisition,Kevin Durant, who fed the Warriors' hunger for titles. When Warriors won the titles in 2017 and 2018, Durant was named as the Finals MVP. Durant’s playoff scoring average was 28.5 in 2017 and 29 in 2018.
This trio would lead the Warriors to a fifth consecutive NBA Finals appearance in 2019, but disaster struck both Durant and Klay Thompson.
Durant had missed playoff games since the second-round, due to a calf strain. He tried an ill-advised return in game five of the 2019 Finals against the Toronto Raptors, scoring 11 points in 11 minutes before tearing his Achilles tendon.
In game six of that series Klay Thompson tore his left ACL. Durant is now employed by Brooklyn Nets and Klay Thompson is out for the 2019/20 season recuperating from these severe injuries.
With Durant starring alongside Thompson and Curry, the trio led the Warriors to three consecutive NBA Finals.
Player trio's that received honourable consideration but did not make the list, as the greatest of this decade, include the 2010 NBA Champion Los Angeles Lakers (Kobe Bryant, Pau Gasol, and Andrew Bynum), the Oklahoma City Thunder (James Harden, Russell Westbrook and Kevin Durant) in 2012 as they made the NBA Finals and the Boston Celtics (Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and Kevin Garnett) made two Eastern Conference Finals and lost the 2010 Finals to the Lakers.
