What Larry Bird and Magic Johnson did for the NBA was beyond special, saving the league from bankruptcy, and even dissolvement. However, while they kept it going, Michael Jordan ensured that the NBA became one of the most profitable leagues in the world. During the prime of his career, everyone across the globe wanted a piece of ‘His Airness’. In turn, that meant that everyone wanted a piece of the NBA as well. Even Isiah Thomas, perhaps Jordan’s biggest-ever rival and former head of the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA), couldn’t deny Jordan’s impact on the league. In fact, the NBA legend sincerely credited the Bulls icon for everything he did.
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Jordan and Thomas have never been friends. During their time in the NBA, MJ was forced to overcome the Isiah Thomas-led ‘Bad Boy Pistons’ before he won his first championship. Year after year, he’d see himself and his Bulls team be beaten to the ground in the playoffs both figuratively, and literally, by the Bad Boys. However, after losing to them in three consecutive seasons, Chicago finally overcame the infamous Detroit side in 1991, on the way to their first championship.
Isiah Thomas credits Michael Jordan for getting NBA players better pay
Isiah Thomas is not the person to give Michael Jordan any compliments easily. However, when it comes to how much money he earned from the NBA, the Pistons legend couldn’t help but give the Bulls legend his credit. Here is what he had to say on the matter, as seen in the Instagram post by ‘clutchtime’.
“What Michael Jordan did for the NBA, man we all still eating off of that! At that time, being the president of the Players’ Association, we was getting 53% of the gross… So, for every dollar that came in, we got 53 cents on every dollar. And Michael Jordan was good for business. He was great for business. And what Michael Jordan did for the NBA, he took it to a level that none of us could. We appreciate him for that. We honor him for that. (We’re) still getting paid off of that.”
Through his greatness, Jordan was able to make the NBA a worldwide phenomenon. Naturally, this caused the viewership of the league to skyrocket almost instantly, as a result of which, teams got higher salary caps. And finally, because of those raised caps, franchises had the freedom to pay their players a lot more money.
Thomas was head of the NBPA from 1988 to 1994, which meant that he had front-row seats to the MJ revolution. It is no wonder that he is so full of praises for his rival, despite their long-standing beef.
Thomas was once asked how many championships a duo of him and Jordan would win together
For the life of them, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas could never get along. There have even been rumors that the reason Thomas was snubbed from the famous 1992 USA Dream Team, was because Jordan vetoed the Pistons guard’s selection. However, it must be noted that the Bulls legend has since then denied those claims.
Despite their bad blood, the veteran guard was once asked how many rings he and his nemesis could have won together. Here was his response to the question.
“8 or 9 definitely.”
The absolute certainty with which ‘Zeke’ delivers his answer is definitely a bit scary. However, given the quality of the two players, it’s difficult to deny the claim.
