Derrick Rose may have angered some Chicago Bulls fans by revealing that he considers Isiah Thomas to be the GOAT. During an interview with HoopsHype, Rose revealed that he used to consider Bulls icon Michael Jordan as the greatest ever, but has now switched to Thomas.
“I mean, my GOAT now is Isiah Thomas because he’s from Chicago,” Rose said. “The only guy who beat Magic [Johnson], Mike [Jordan], and [Larry] Bird all in their prime at 6-3. Chicago’s way of doing sh*t.
“I used to say MJ, but it wasn’t MJ,” Rose continued. “I said it because I was intrigued by his story and how he won. But I’m not a two-guard. I don’t score like him at all. So it was just me just admiring his story.”
Thomas is a Chicago native, but a lot of Bulls fans don’t have much love for him. He was, of course, the leader of those Detroit Pistons teams that had a contentious rivalry with the Bulls in the late 1980s and early 1990s.
The Pistons used the infamous “Jordan Rules” to slow down Jordan and beat the Bulls in the playoffs in 1988, 1989, and 1990. The tables turned in 1991, though, as the Bulls swept the Pistons.
Regardless of that setback, Thomas’ Pistons could claim to be the only team to get the better of the three iconic teams of that era. They beat Jordan’s Bulls thrice, as mentioned earlier, and also had success against Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Magic Johnson’s Los Angeles Lakers.
Thomas and the Pistons faced off against Bird and the Celtics five times in the playoffs. The Celtics won the first two meetings, but the Pistons won the next three.
Johnson’s Lakers, meanwhile, beat the Pistons in seven games in the 1988 NBA Finals but were swept in the rematch the following year. Thomas would lead the Pistons to another title in 1990 to cement his status as an all-time great.
To go with those two titles, Thomas, who had career averages of 19.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 9.3 assists, 1.9 steals, and 0.3 blocks per game, also won a Finals MVP and an assists title. He made 12 All-Star and five All-NBA teams as well. That’s a great resume, but obviously not great enough to be regarded as the best ever.
Rose, who grew up in Chicago like Thomas, wasn’t shying away from the fact that he was being a bit biased with that selection. Perhaps if he’d been born in 1978 instead of 1988, he’d have had a different opinion of Thomas due to that rivalry.
Derrick Rose Previously Claimed Michael Jordan Became The GOAT Because He Played In Chicago
Rose has some very interesting opinions when it comes to Jordan. During an appearance on the Club 520 Podcast, he claimed Jordan wouldn’t have become the GOAT if he hadn’t played in Chicago.
“MJ wouldn’t be MJ if he played anywhere else but Chicago for his pro career. He would have been a great player anywhere else, but in Chicago, he became the Black Cat. He became MJ in Chicago.”
“Just off the strength of the culture in Chicago, it’s everywhere. The basketball culture is just strong. The expectations of, like, ‘Alright, what are you going to do?’ I guarantee you he had people in his corner like, ‘You just went on vacation. They ain’t going to let you win three more. I bet you can’t.’ That’s what n***** in Chi-Town were telling him. ‘You already won one. I bet you can’t win another.’ That’s what I mean by the culture, being there, that’s what I felt.”
Did playing in Chicago help Jordan? It’s hard to say, but he would have gone down as a legendary figure regardless of where he played. Jordan won six titles, six Finals MVPs, five MVPs, one DPOY, and 10 scoring titles in his career. Rose was somewhat diminishing his greatness by making these claims.
