NBA's All-Time Greatest Trios

Selecting the five greatest trios of teammates to ever play in the NBA is a lot like trying to select your five best girlfriends: all of them were good. They all did a lot of great things. But at the end of the day, there is always a pecking order of the best of that elite group. 

Below is just that—a subjective list of the five greatest triumvirates In NBA history that meet the following criteria: 

1.  They played together for a minimum of four years. 

2.  They won at least one title together. 

3.  At least two of the three are or someday will be hall of famers. 

No. 5: Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant

Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant: Chicago Bulls, 88-93

Reasoning: 

Many may be surprised to see Jordan occupying the bottom spot on the list or to see the name of Horace Grant instead of Dennis Rodman. But the facts do not lie.

Despite Jordan’s place as the games all-time greatest player in the eyes of so many, what he and his Bulls did in both of their three-peats pails in comparison to what the other great dynasties on this list have done when you factor in things like All-NBA teams, combined points scored, longevity and balance. 

Basketball is, after all, a team game, and we are talking about trios, NOT one player. Jordan’s comrades were simply not good enough to allow Mike's trinity to be any higher.

Grant was selected in place of Rodman due to the fact that he played with Jordan and Pippen longer (six years instead of three), and was a more complete player than Rodman. 

Accomplishments and Accolades: 

During their six-year run together, the three accumulated three world championships (1991-93), three league MVP awards and nine All-Star game appearances. 

In addition, they were honored with seven selections as first- or second-team All-NBA and scored a combined 29,303 points. The trio was also responsible for 56.5 percent of the total offensive output for the Bulls during that six-year stretch. 

No. 4: Bill Russell, Sam Jones, Bob Cousy

Bill Russell, Sam Jones and Bob Cousy: Boston Celtics 1958-63

Reasoning:

Cited by many NBA history buffs and grey-bearded sportswriters as the first great trio, it was a question where, not if, to include them on this list. 

It was hard for me to put such a dynamic group near the bottom given what they accomplished.  At the end of the day, however, when you factored in the supporting cast they had to work with, it seemed like the right thing to do.  

During the course of their six years together, Russell, Jones and Cousy, all hall of famers, played with seven other future hall-of-fame teammates. 

Having this many great teammates does not diminish the magnitude of their accomplishments, but it does diminish their individual responsibility in achieving them. Thus, they drop to fourth on our list of NBA trios. 

Accomplishments and Accolades: 

History tells us that the magic formula for winning championships in the NBA in the late 1950s and early 1960s was to trot out this trio and let them do their thing.  This formula resulted in an astounding five titles in six seasons together, as well as four MVPs for Russell. 

For decoration, the triumvirate also decided to throw in 14 All-Star appearances, 10 All-NBA selections and 22,245 points. 

No. 3: Bill Russell, Sam Jones, John Havlicek

Bill Russell, Sam Jones and John Havlicek: Boston Celtics 1963-69

Reasoning: 

It may seem redundant to have a second trio that is two-thirds the same as the previous one, but that is what happens when you win 11 titles in 13 years. Bill Russell, you and a few special guests (let's call them VIPs) get extra attention on our list. 

The fact was that when going through the numbers, I could not in good faith deem one Russell-led big three better than the other.  We rated this group slightly higher than the first mainly because the numbers were slightly better. 

Another consideration of the ranking was the fact that, excluding Russell, Havlicek was a better player than either Jones or Cousy, thus putting his group one notch higher than Cousy’s. 

Accomplishments and Accolades: 

Much like the trio that preceded them both chronologically and on this list, Russell, Jones and “Hondo” won the NBA crown every year but one (1967 against Philly) during their seven years together. 

Russell also added two more MVP awards, giving him a total of six for his hall-of-fame career. 

Collectively this group would also tally 16 All-Star selections, 14 All-NBA selections and nearly 29,000 combined points.

No. 2: Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, James Worthy

Earvin “Magic” Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy: LA Lakers 1983-89 

Reasoning: 

The placement of this group on this list really needs no explanation. They are by any measure, statistical or otherwise, one of truly great trios of all-time. 

The decision to include them in the top two was not hard, but choosing which spot to pencil them in for was probably the most difficult decision that had to be made while compiling this list. 

I can tell you for certain that I flip-flopped on this one more than once. When push came to shove, however, I chose to rank them just behind our top team (no I will not give it away) simply because they had far more help than did the next team on this list. 

Accomplishments and Accolades: 

The group known as “Showtime” won three titles in seven years together, and the lead pairing of Johnson and Abdul-Jabbar won five together during the 1980s. James Worthy, aka ”Big Game James,” joined the team in the 1982-83 season as a first-round pick out of North Carolina and made an instant impact with the up-tempo Lakers, scoring 13.4 points per game as a rookie. 

The trio’s most dominant year came in 1987 when they accounted for 52 percent of the team's offense en route to their second title as a unit. 

All told, Johnson, Abdul-Jabbar and Worthy accumulated three MVPs, 18 All-Star appearances, 11 All-NBA selections and 29,197 points playing together.

Still, after accomplishing all that it was not enough to unseat their No. 1 rival, and most dominant NBA triumvirate of all-time…

No. 1: Larry Bird, Robert Parish, Kevin McHale

Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parish: Boston Celtics 1981-92 

Reasoning: 

When we really sat down and analyzed the numbers, accomplishments and rosters, we quickly realized just how great this trio was. 

It is not enough to say that they scored a bunch of points (which they did) or that they won multiple titles (ditto). You also must take into account the fact that they often did it while overcoming significant deficiencies in depth and athleticism.  

Compared with the Lakers, who sported supporting players like Bob McAdoo, Jamaal Wilkes, Michael Cooper and Byron Scott, the Celtics managed to win with a supporting cast of often injured, faded stars like Bill Walton, Pete Maravich and Nate Archibald either starting or coming off the bench. 

The lone exception to this rule was Dennis Johnson, whom Bird later called the best teammate he ever played with.  

Coupled with the incredible length of time they were together (12 years in all), and Boston’s “big three” of the 1980s gets the sports-ayd.com nod as the greatest trio of teammates in NBA history. 

Accomplishments and Accolades: 

During their decade-plus run Bird, McHale and Parish accomplished far too many things to chronicle here (trust me, you would get bored reading such a long list jammed with so many numbers). So I decided to just include the real important and impressive ones. 

The trio went to the NBA finals four times together, winning three times.  They tallied three straight MVP awards (Larry Bird 1984-86), an astounding 26 All-Star appearances, 11 All-Pro nods and an otherworldly 53,004 points scored. 

More impressive still is the fact that they played such a huge percentage of their respective careers together.  Larry Bird played just one of his 13 NBA seasons without McHale and Parish; McHale likewise played just one year without Bird. 

Parish is a bit of an exception, having played for four teams in his 22-year career. However, the bulk of that time was spent with Bird, McHale and the Celtics, and he is no doubt much more known for what he did in those 12 seasons in Boston than what he did in his other seven years with Golden State (1976-80), Charlotte (1994-96) and Chicago (1996-97). 

This incredible trio hit its apex in the 1985-86 season, during which they accounted for an impressive 56.7 percent of the Celtics offense on the way to their final title together. The next season, despite losing 4-2 to the Los Angeles Lakers in the NBA Finals, the big three would score an unfathomable 5,487 points which translated to an equally—if not more impressive—63.4 percent of the team’s total offense. 

In Conclusion

Any team would be lucky to be headlined by any of the above-mentioned threesomes.

To make an analogy: Picking one over the other was like trying to pick Beyonce over Jessica Alba, or a Ferrari over a Porsche; you can’t go wrong.

Now as a wise man once said: let the debating begin...