Win or lose, three-peat or not, the Miami Heat’s Big 3 of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh are all expected to return to South Beach next season despite all of them being able to opt out of their deals and become summer free agents.
Fansided.com reports, “in talking with several execs, consensus is LeBron, Wade and Bosh all re-up with Heat.”
While that undoubtedly comes as music to the ears of all Heat diehards, it almost certainly rates as the last thing on the minds of the aforementioned Big 3 as they begin a defense of their back-to-back titles in earnest this week.
The No. 2 seed Heat are set to play host to Michael Jordan’s Charlotte Bobcats in a first-round Eastern Conference series this weekend as they seek to join Jordan’s Bulls as just the third NBA team to three-peat (Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal’s Lakers) in nearly two decades. The Heat will also be striving to become the first team in nearly 30-years to play in four straight league championship series.
Still, and no matter what, Bosh recently indicated he expects the crew to all be in place for other runs in the years to come. When ESPN personality Dan LeBatard recently asked Bosh “true or false” to the probing question of if he and James will be in Miami beyond this year, Bosh instantly answered “true.”
That, more or less, sealed the deal in the minds of many, what with Wade being a career-long member of the organization and thus long considered to be the closest thing to a sure thing to return. In his 11 seasons with the franchise, the 32-year-old, 10-time All-Star has averaged 24 points, seven assists and five rebounds. Wade’s best statistical season came in 2008-9 when he averaged 30.2 points, 7.5 assists and five rebounds.
But none of that seems to matter much now, not with the issue of a few more victories, yet another banner and the prospect immortality all riding in the balance.
