Despite the bad blood between them, Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas appear to respect each other’s game. MJ explained that he respects Thomas’ game, putting the Detroit Pistons legend as the second-best point guard in the history of the game, only behind the Los Angeles Lakers icon Magic Johnson.
During the fifth episode of ‘The Last Dance’ documentary aired on Sunday, Jordan claimed Thomas was Isiah was right behind Magic on the all-time point guard list.
“I respect Isiah Thomas’ talent. To me the best point guard of all-time is Magic Johnson and right behind him is Isiah Thomas. No matter how much I hate him, I respect his game,” Jordan said.
Game respects game.#TheLastDance pic.twitter.com/Dhoyyl5E2N
— ESPN (@espn) May 4, 2020
This came after Jordan went off against Thomas last week during the third and fourth episodes of the docuseries. The Bulls had to overcome the Pistons to finally win the East and the NBA championship in 1991. After they swept the ‘Bad Boys’ in Detroit, none of the Pistons players wanted to shake hands with the Bulls, a move that wasn’t well-received in the NBA.
Even though Thomas tried to explain the move, Jordan wasn’t sold on that, labeling Isiah’s explanation as ‘bulls–t’. Still, game recognizes game, and Jordan knows talent when he sees it. It does not look like they will be friends any time soon, but you know that the GOAT has respect for one of his greatest rivals.
During his first championship run, Jordan had to beat both Thomas and Magic, respectively, beating who he considers the best two PGs in NBA history.
