Point guard rivalries of the 20th century were as intense as they got. Isiah Thomas was at the center of these in the 80s and early 90s. While his friendship and subsequent on-court distaste for Magic Johnson has been highly publicized, his competitive spirit against Mark Jackson has not. Thomas relays some of the latter while on Jackson’s podcast.
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In a retelling of his first NBA encounter with Jackson, Isiah claims he was hounded on defense by the New York native at Rick Pitino’s behest. Pitino, after serving as an assistant coach to the Knicks, became the head coach for two seasons, which coincided with Mark’s first few years in the league.
“Mark catches it on the sideline and Pitino says, ‘Take his a**!’” said Isiah regarding Rick’s desire for Jackson to take it to him. With tears of laughter in his eyes, IT continued.
“You backed me down, boom, boom, boom. And that was the first time I felt him and I was like, ‘Oh s**, he kinda strong.’ He leaned that shoulder on me and he threw a little jump hook.”
Thomas then goes on to expand upon how this matchup of theirs went on, with Pitino repeatedly asking Mark to go at the smaller IT. If this is truly Isiah reminiscing over the first time they played against one another, then this would happen to be the first NBA game of Mark’s career.
November 6th, 1987 saw Mark come off the bench as a rookie and score 4 points to IT’s 21 points. However, if this story is a retelling of the first time Mark actually had a solid game against Thomas and crew, then this could be the events of December 12th, 1987. Here, Mark had already cracked the starting lineup and was 7-8 from the field and dropped 14 points while Thomas was held to 9 points in an eventual Detroit win.
Isiah sings Mark’s praise
“I always had to come to the arena with my thinking cap on,” said Isiah about having to face Jackson. This wasn’t an understatement by any means given how incredible of a floor general the Knicks point guard was.
What he lacked in speed and athleticism, he made up for with his IQ. Navigating screen and rolls to perfection, driving and dishing to the wings and/or centers, and of course, taking advantage of smaller point guards. Having a ‘stocky’ build is what helped him revolutionize what it meant to be 6’3 and have a viable post game.
“Mark always put you in situations where- he’s like the Joker [Nikola Jokic]. Those guys are so smart that when they get you out of position, they keep you out of position. You never get back in position.”
Comparing Mark to 3x MVP Nikola Jokic might be a bit of a stretch. However, if the conversation is about pass-first, unathletic yet highly effective NBA players, then the two can most certainly breathe air from the same echelon.
