There’s a hater in all of us. For some, it’s louder and more present. For others, it’s saved for special occasions. For a small group of people, it is always present. That final group includes two people: Kendrick Lamar and Isiah Thomas.
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The former took an equating of himself to someone he did not see on his level (in 2014 and in 2024) and turned it into a Super Bowl performance, the song of the summer, and claims to have ended the rap career of a Canadian man with questionable at best choices in partners.
The latter has spent 40 years talking about how he beat three of the ten best players of all time, including Michael Jordan, who many consider the GOAT. They both have their accomplishments that are worth celebrating, but choose to be haters instead. That’s inspirational.
This comparison is, admittedly and unfortunately, not my own creation. Instead, it came from a post that Thomas made himself. The Hall of Fame point guard compared himself to the greatest rapper of today by mentioning his own playoff runs. Thomas and his teammates were the only people to beat all three of Michael Jordan, Larry Bird, and Magic Johnson in one playoff run.
Thomas and his Pistons achieved this feat in the 1989 Playoffs. The Pistons swept Larry Bird and the Celtics in the 1st round. They then proceeded to eliminate Jordan and his Bulls in six games in the Eastern Conference Finals. The Pistons made light work of Magic Johnson and his Lakers in the NBA Finals, handing them a sweep.
While it is a monstrous achievement, many modern players discount the small guard. In the in-betweener of eras, stuck halfway in the Bird vs Magic era and halfway in the legend of Michael Jordan, Thomas has never gotten the credit he deserves as a player. That is in no small part due to his disastrous career as an executive for the Knicks, but that shouldn’t change how we view his playing career.
Even Charles Barkley, a disrespected player in his own right, had his share of compliments for Thomas
The First Small Guard vs the Best Small Guard
In a 2024 story for Yahoo Sports, Charles Barkley spoke on Thomas’ strengths. In an era where smaller players succeeded only in so far as they could attack big ones, Thomas did exactly that. He was a star as a small guard when they were rarely even starters. In many ways, Steph Curry’s place in the league only exists because of those undersized players who proved they could be successful. While Thomas is the obvious answer, Earl Monroe comes to mind as well.
It was for these reasons that Barkley decided he would take Isiah Thomas over Steph all-time. Despite the analytics, eye test, and award comparisons all favoring Curry, Barkley insisted that, having played against Thomas, there was no one better.
They say hating leaves you old and sad, but Thomas hasn’t stopped hating, and it hasn’t prevented him from getting praise from his peers.
