Isiah Thomas seems to be in no mood to let go of his beef with the Chicago Bulls, judging from his latest comments about Michael Jordan and co.
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The history of basketball can’t be told without a full chapter on the Pistons-Bulls rivalry. These were 2 of the best teams in the NBA during the 4 consecutive playoffs that they faced each other.
Jordan and his Bulls were knocked out by Isiah Thomas‘ Pistons in 3 straight postseason campaigns. They only emerged triumphant in a 4-0 sweep in 1991, never to face each other in the playoffs again.
This aforementioned series set Jordan’s Bulls on the path to winning 6 championships in 8 years. Anyone who follows basketball history keenly would cite the Pistons as the breakthrough barrier for Jordan and co.
However, there was some bad blood between the Bulls and the Pistons due to the Bad Boys’ physicality. Detroit did not hesitate in committing hard fouls on MJ, even conjuring up a bunch of Jordan Rules.
Jordan’s camp also accused Isiah of ‘freezing out’ MJ in the 1985 All-Star Game along with Magic and George Gervin. It was amply clear from this point that MJ would take his rivalry with Isiah personally.
Isiah Thomas flames Michael Jordan and co for crying foul to David Stern
The 2-time champion was recently a guest on former Celtics Finals MVP Cedric Maxwell’s podcast. Given their rivalry, the duo found a ton of common grounds to discuss during the interview.
Isiah voiced a grievance he had with the players on the Bulls’ dynasty. According to him, the Pistons don’t receive enough credit for shaping their mentality as champions in the press:
“Jordan – every time you hit him, he was crying. Going to David Stern’s office, having a meeting about getting hit, getting fouled, changing the rules.”
“I’m like ‘Wait a minute. I watched Doctor J get beat up, I watched Magic get beat up, I watched Max get beat up, Bird get beat up. I got beat up. Everybody got beat up, but now we gotta change the rules because he’s getting hit?'”
Isiah Thomas is actively campaigning for LeBron James’ GOAT case
The Pistons legend was excluded from the Dream Team based on feedback from MJ, Pippen and Magic Johnson, among others. It seems to have rubbed him off the wrong way for the rest of his life.
Isiah was among the first former legends to credit LeBron James as the GOAT, doing so during his 14th season alongside Nick Wright on the latter’s show.
