The rivalry between Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan is one of the most fabled ones in all of basketball. Their playoff battles are legendary, but so are the off-court battles that have led to both players still being at odds with each other 30 years later. But former Detroit Pistons ‘Bad Boy’ John Salley gave some insight into the unique genesis of the rivalry.
“Isiah goes home, and his nephew is wearing a Bulls jersey, a Michael Jordan Bulls jersey. He said, ‘Hey, what you doing?’ ‘We in Chicago. That’s my team.’ It’s his nephew. He was not really understanding that the great Isiah Thomas plays for Detroit, we don’t wear that. We wear this. ‘But I’m from Chicago. I’m down with the Bull movement.’ Isiah was mad at that. Not to Michael, personally. In his brain, ‘Every time I play against this dude, I’m gonna try to go off so my nephew sees this is the jersey you should wear.’ Never at Michael.” (h/t The Sporting News)
Salley also added that it was Magic Johnson who stopped Isiah Thomas’s inclusion in the 1992 Olympic Dream team, something Magic had to elaborate on later.
“That was the craziest thing. When you hear the story, in Magic’s words, Magic says on his documentary that he’s the reason Isiah didn’t get on the squad. Magic said he blocked it.”
While this feud is definitely a lot deeper than a jersey, it is quite wild to imagine that was the genesis of IT’s dislike for Jordan. The rivalry got a lot worse over the course of their playoff battles, eventually leading to a bad reputation of Thomas around the league.
Magic wanted to preserve the chemistry of the team and he did so at Isiah’s expense. But even Magic has looked back at that decision and regretted it. The relationship these players shared in the 90s will always be a source of intrigue, but hopefully, the players can let bygones be bygones.
