Isiah Thomas might be one of the most underrated point guards in NBA history. He is not often brought up in any conversations regarding all-time greats, despite the fact that he has led the Detroit Pistons to two NBA championships while beating some all-time legends.
There is no doubt that the competition for Isiah Thomas was huge. He is the only one that has managed to beat Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, and Michael Jordan in their prime. One could add Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to this list, but he was out of his prime when the Lakers faced the Pistons.
Isiah Thomas has recently commented on the GOATs and stated that his Detroit Pistons beat a lot of the players who were the “best to ever do it”. He certainly has a point as Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird are widely viewed as top-10 players of all time.
“All them people that they say are the best to ever do it, my teams beat all them.”@IsiahThomas talked about his ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons teams with @channingfrye on an all-new ‘Full-Bodied’ 👀 https://t.co/N0wzkgGfw6
(@porsche) https://t.co/BmEXw3E2cD
— Bleacher Report (@BleacherReport) December 22, 2021
All of them. All them people that they say are the best to ever do it, my teams beat all them. We probably was the best defensive team to ever play in the NBA.
Isiah Thomas is certainly right in saying that his Pistons provided challenges for a lot of great players. They were known for playing physical defense and stopping opposing stars. It is clear that Isiah Thomas is confident in what he has accomplished, and he definitely has reason to be proud. He won as a smaller guard, in an era that was dominated by bigger players.
The Detroit Pistons are definitely underrated in terms of the way they are recognized as compared to the other great teams of their era. There are few defenses that can claim that they managed to stop Michael Jordan. Hopefully, we see more respect for them as a team in the future, as well as more respect for Isiah Thomas himself as a player.
