Miami Heat: How LeBron James & Co. Proved There's Only 1 Big 3 in the NBA

Before the Miami Heat became the 2012 NBA champions, winning Game 5 121-106, there was a lot of talk about how the Oklahoma City Thunder had a Big Three that could compete with the likes of LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

After watching the 2012 NBA Finals, we can put that kind of talk to rest. There's only one Big Three in the NBA, and it belongs to the Miami Heat.

The way the Heat's Big Three played in the 2012 NBA Finals was absolutely epic.

LeBron, Wade and Bosh combined for averages of 65.8 points, 25.4 rebounds and 12.6 assists in the Finals, but that's not the most impressive part of what they did on the court.

Unlike any other trifecta in the NBA, the Heat's Big Three manage to keep their teammates actively involved in the game, and that's what makes them so special.

The Thunder's trio of Kevin Durant, James Harden and Russell Westbrook try to do too much all by themselves, and that's not what being a "Big Three" is about. Chalk it up to youth or inexperience, but there's no way around the fact that the Thunder's vaunted "Big Three" was truly no match for the Heat.

LeBron, Wade and Bosh didn't force each other into relative superstar roles throughout the finals; instead, they fed off LeBron's excellence and did exactly what the Heat needed them to do, which was provide the rest of the Heat's roster with intensity and leadership.

There will be an insane amount of conversation regarding what changed between this year and last year for the Miami Heat, and while there will be a multitude of different perspectives, there's only one that is true.

The difference between the 2012 championship Heat and the 2011 Heat who lost in the NBA Finals is the fact that in 2012 they played like a complete team instead of playing like a team with three superstars.

The Heat's Big Three did what the Thunder's trio couldn't do: using their superstar talent to make the players around them better instead of focusing solely on their individual production.

It's amazing how the Heat can have three of the best players in the NBA, yet the focus of their offense a majority of the time can still be on the role players who are around them.

Being a Big Three isn't about making your teammates disappear. Instead, it's about making them stand out more than they ever could without you, and that's exactly what LeBron, Wade and Bosh did throughout the postseason.

There's only one Big Three in the NBA, and it consists of the 2012 NBA champions: LeBron James, Dwyane Wade and Chris Bosh.

We might never see another trio in the league as dominant as these three, and it's time to just sit back and enjoy the show they'll put on throughout the next few years.