Most NBA fans are aware of the legendary rivalry between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas. The two players went head to head in the regular season and the postseason for several years.
Thomas played a crucial role in pushing Mike to his extreme limits and in a way, helping him become an even better basketball player. However, the rivalry between the two superstars wasn’t peaceful at all.
If anything, Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons did everything in their power to hurt Michael Jordan during their playoff matchups. MJ even revealed that he believed that Bill Laimbeer and Dennis Rodman tried to live up to their images of being some sort of bullies.
But at the end of the day, MJ’s Bulls found a way to overcome those adversaries and ultimately dominate the Pistons during the latter years of their rivalry. With that said, have you ever wondered when exactly did MJ and Thomas’ rivalry begin?
Well, Jordan himself gave an answer to that question in the May 1992 edition of Playboy magazine. This is how the conversation went.
Via Ballislife:
Playboy: There are some differences you haven’t ironed out. What’s the story with you and Isiah Thomas and the alleged Jordan freeze-out at the 1985 N.B.A. All-Star game? Do you think they were really denying you the ball?
Jordan: If you go back and look at the film, you can see that Isiah was actually doing that. Once it started getting around that he was freezing me out, that’s when the ill feelings started to grow between us.
Playboy: There were some problems even before the game, weren’t there?
Jordan: That was my first All-Star game. I stayed in my room most of the time because I didn’t know what to do. None of my teammates were there. I didn’t want to be out in a situation that I wasn’t comfortable with. The one time I did go out, I got on an elevator with Isiah Thomas to go downstairs for a league meeting. That was the first time I met him. And I said, ‘Hello, how ya doin’?’ That’s all I said. I was really intimidated because I didn’t know him and I didn’t want to get on his nerves. I didn’t want to seem like a rookie. You know, to just be so stupid. So I was quiet. I stayed in the corner. When I went down in the room for the meeting, I still didn’t say anything. After the weekend was over, it got back to me that I was arrogant and cocky and I wouldn’t even speak to Isiah on the elevator, that I gave him the cold shoulder. And I’m saying Isiah Thomas initiated it all.
Playboy: How did that make you feel?
Jordan: I was really disappointed and upset because I never wanted to step on anybody’s toes. When I came into the league, I considered myself the lowest on the totem pole. I’m a rookie, now let me work my way up. When I started with the Bulls, they wanted me to be a vocal leader, but I told coach Kevin Loughery that I didn’t feel comfortable doing that. We had all these guys with six or seven years in the league and I was in my first year. How could I tell these guys this and that? The best way I could do it was just to go out and play hard. And that’s the way I’ve always treated it. They took that as disrespect and misinterpreted that whole weekend.
Playboy: The next game after the All-Star break was at home against Detroit. How did you react?
Jordan: Normally, I would smile and enjoy myself, but I was serious the whole game. It was a grudge game from my standpoint. And the next day, the headlines read ‘Jordan Gets His Revenge, Scores 49.’ That’s all Isiah needed to see. It was a competition from that point. I always tried to respect him and be kind, but I always would hear talk that he was saying things about me behind my back. I just said, Well, I’m gonna stop trying to be nice. Screw it. Just play basketball. We don’t have to be best of friends.
Playboy: Was that experience ultimately good for you?
Jordan: Well, it taught me about the jealousy that you deal with on this level. But at the same time, this is a business. I’m going to take advantage of all the opportunities. If they were in my shoes, they would do the exact same thing.
As MJ mentioned, he and Isiah didn’t need to become best friends or anything. They just needed to focus on playing basketball and helping them win games and ultimately NBA Championships.
In conclusion, if it weren’t for Thomas giving MJ the cold shoulder at the 1985 NBA All-Star game, fans wouldn’t have seen their great rivalry in the future. Moreover, reading this excerpt from the 1992 Playboy magazine also gives fans an idea that Jordan developed his killer mentality even during the early days of his career.
Thanks to that mentality, Jordan achieved a lot of great things in his career and even today he is considered as the GOAT of basketball.
