When ranking the best Big 3s entering the 2023–24 NBA campaign, something becomes quickly apparent: the era of Big 3s is no longer at its apex.
It feels like only yesterday when LeBron James took his talents to South Beach and Chris Bosh did the same, forming the first true Big 3 in this era of the NBA alongside Dwyane Wade. The Miami Heat took a little while to gel but ultimately lived up to the hype.
The Big 3 is still held up as a standard of superstardom for a franchise, but they seem to be waning in popularity, at least in terms of their intentionality. The NBA has made it more difficult to create dominant trios and the latest collective bargaining agreement could add to the challenge.
Nevertheless, there are still teams built around a Big 3 of stars.
With another NBA season on the horizon, it’s time to take a look at the top ten Big 3s entering the 2023-24 campaign.
Even with the season about to begin, there still might be some Big 3s in flux. For instance, the Portland Trail Blazers acquired point guard Jrue Holiday in the Damian Lillard trade, seemingly with the intent to get something for him on the trade market. He was then dealt to Boston, perhaps changing the look of a Big 3 in Beantown.
For the purposes of this exercise, we’re going to base the ranking on the three biggest stars on each roster. Bonus consideration is given to teams that have a Big 3 that complements one another, rather than are three stars simply thrown together for the sake of it.
As always, feel free to sound off in the comments.
Let’s get into it.