There was nobody in the NBA that Michael Jordan wanted to beat more than Isiah Thomas. We are only talking about a game of basketball right now.
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Surely, 6ft 6’ Jordan would take 6ft 1’ Zeke inside a cage in a no-holds-barred setup any time if he got the chance back in the day. But thankfully they kept it to basketball, at least for the most part.
The rivalry between the two is not just famous because MJ was the prime conspirator in denying Thomas his spot in the dream team, but because Thomas physically tormented and eliminated Jordan and his Bulls in three straight Playoffs between 1988 and 1990.
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Isiah Thomas has a terrific record against Michael Jordan in 65 career games
Arguably the best point guard after Magic Johnson, Isiah might not have any regular season MVP awards or too many All-NBA selections to show for it, but his 36-29 win record against the 6x Champ and 5x MVP should be enough to ascertain his place among the greats of the game.
Thanks to Fadeawayworld we came across this stat.
Detroit’s 12x All-Star has the second-best winning record against the arguable GOAT behind Larry Bird and Kevin McHale but if we consider the sample size, Isiah has the much more dominant record.
How MJ got back to Zeke
After losing to his Pistons in 3-straight postseasons, Jordan and Co came back with vigor in the 1991 Playoffs and thrashed the Pistons 4-0 in the Eastern Conference Finals and spoiled their efforts towards a three-peat.
Isiah’s infamous clip of not shaking Bulls players’ hands became the reason he would miss out on the Dream Team because most of the players didn’t want him on the team, especially His Airness.
MJ and a few other Bulls players have even admitted to their involvement in Thomas getting snubbed.
Thomas would not lead his team to a long post-season until he would retire in 1994 seeing Mike do the three-peat which he could not and also losing his spot in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics which no other point guard deserved more than him except for maybe Magic.
