Greatest NBA Trios of All Time

Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Dennis Rodman (Bulls, 1995-1998)

Jordan, Pippen, and Rodman only played together for three seasons.

Jordan was the undoubted alpha of the group, but it would be foolish to think he did it all on his own. Pippen was the Bulls’ point forward and best perimeter defender, and Rodman was the dirty work specialist who action and outworked everyone else on the court.

They won the championship in all three seasons, as Jordan and Pippen captured their second three peat. Jordan and Pippen were the great offensive and defensive perimeter players, and Rodman was a great defensive and rebounding machine inside.

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Tim Duncan, Tony Parker, Manu Ginobili (Spurs, 2002-2015)

Duncan, Ginobili and Parker have been the best trio in the last decade. They won three championships together. Duncan has been the man inside, Ginobili is a great all-around perimeter player, and Parker has been a high-scoring great point guard.

Their different skills complimented each other well, and made it to the most successful in franchise history. Duncan is gaining much of the praise as he is, one of the best power forwards to ever play in the league, it can be argued that he would not have done it without both Parker and Ginobili by his side.

Those these three were incredible individual talents, they were simply better together and will undoubtedly go down in history as the best and most balanced trios in NBA history.

Magic Johnson, Kareem-Abdul Jabbar, James Worthy (Lakers, 1982-1989)

Magic Johnson gets most of the credit for spearheading LA’s Showtime offense, but he received plenty of help from James Worthy, who was a terror on the break, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, whose skyhook made him one of the greatest player in the league.

Magic, Kareemm and Worthy formed the most entertaining and exciting teams of all time, the Showtime Lakers of the ’80s. Together, they won three championships in the late ’80s. Magic was the great lead guard, Worthy was the fantastic quick forward who was a great finisher, and Kareem was the inside presence in the halfcourt.

LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh (Miami Heat 2010-2014)

James, Bosh, and Wade had been selected as the 1st, 4th, and 5th picks in the 2003 NBA draft, and became scoring leaders for their franchises over their first seven seasons.

The Heat secured the signings of both Bosh and James in free agency, with the final being announced in the television special The Decision. The trio led the Heat to the NBA Finals in each of their four seasons together, and won back to back championships in 2012 and 2013.

After losing the Finals to the San Antonio Spurs the following season, James pick out of a contract extension, and returned to play for the Cleveland Cavaliers.

Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson, and Kevin Durant (Golden State Warriors 2017-2019)

It is only been a year and a half since Durant joined the party in Golden State, but already they have accomplished so much and have dominated the competition. They cruised to the title in 2017, and excluding something miraculous in this year’s playoffs are expected to repeat.

Even before KD arrived, the Warriors were the premier team in the West, reaching the Finals the two prior years and winning the championship in 2015. It’s important to mention, also, that this group is really a “Big Four” when you add in Draymond Green, best defender.

NBA column by mark