A superstar like Michael Jordan is no stranger to rivalries. One of the most prominent beefs Jordan continues to have is with Isiah Thomas.
Advertisement
Both Isiah and MJ haven’t been on the best terms for a long time now. Ever since the two faced off against each other in the 80s, the duo had some fierce matchups against one another.
While Bulls were the most successful team in the 90s, another team dominated Eastern Conference in the 80s, the Detroit Pistons. The 90s Pistons, also known as the ‘Bad Boy Pistons’, smothered opponents with their physicality, and MJ’s Bulls were no different.
With many fierce battles between one another, the rivalry between Jordan and Thomas was well known to everyone. Be it MJ slamming Isiah for his lack of sportsmanship or Thomas slamming ‘his Airness’ for shutting him off from the 1992 Dream team, the bad blood between the two continues to this day.
Isiah Thomas slams media for creating false narrative for Michael Jordan
Michael Jordan and his legendary 90s Bulls team are often seen as the team who broke the cycle of the Magic led Lakers and the Larry Bird led Celtics. But Pistons’ legend Isiah Thomas certainly doesn’t agree.
In an appearance in the Point Forward podcast, Thomas had some harsh comments about this narrative. “When I came home ’88, ’89, ’90, I was celebrated in my community. I came home as a champion. Chicago hadn’t won yet. As a matter of fact, we was beating them.”
He added, “Consistently. Like, really consistently…… So this whole narrative about, ‘Jordan went through [Larry] Bird, he went through Magic [Johnson], he went through Kareem [Abdul-Jabbar].’ Nooooo. Timeout. That’s my story!”
Not only that Thomas claimed that it was the Pistons who really broke the cycle. “That ain’t Jordan’s story. Jordan didn’t go through Magic, Kareem, Bird, if I remember correctly. He beat us [the Bad Boys Detroit Pistons] in ’91 at the end, and then he beat [Charles] Barkley, Shawn Kemp, Karl Malone, Patrick Ewing. These were the people he beat. He didn’t beat Magic, Bird, and Kareem. But y’all been sold this story.”
