Basketball aficionados speak about the value of a "Big Three" to a team's championship hopes.
In the 1980s, the Boston Celtics (Larry Bird, Kevin McHale and Robert Parrish) and the Los Angeles Lakers (Magic Johnson, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and James Worthy) featured prototypical trios that produced NBA titles.
In recent years, the San Antonio Spurs (Tim Duncan, Tony Parker and Manu Ginobili) demonstrated similar qualities.