Isiah Thomas is back at it, making comments about Michael Jordan and taking shots at the Chicago Bulls legend. Ever since ESPN’s ‘The Last Dance’ showed the rivalry between the ‘Bad Boys’ Detroit Pistons with Jordan and his Bulls, Thomas hasn’t missed a chance to speak about MJ and their beef while remembering his time with the Pistons.
Now, Zeke has claimed he never considered Jordan his competition given the dominance he had over the GOAT until MJ turned things around and swept the Pistons in the ECF in 1991, the year they won their first of six titles.
Thomas talked with FS1’s ‘Speak For Yourself’, claiming Jordan wasn’t his competition. Instead, he named his two biggest rivals during the 80s.
“In ’91, I had what they would call career-ending wrist surgery. But when we were all young and healthy, the numbers speak for themselves. He wasn’t really my competition,” Thomas said.
“My competition was (Larry) Bird and Magic (Johnson). Trying to catch the Celtics, trying to catch the Lakers. Chicago at that time, and Jordan at that time, from ’84-90, before my wrist surgery, that wasn’t my competition.”
.@IsiahThomas says Jordan wasn't his competition
"When we were all young and healthy from 84-90, the numbers speak for themselves, he wasn’t really my competition; My competition was Bird and Magic." pic.twitter.com/fLO1X4pR92
— Speak (@SpeakOnFS1) May 20, 2020
Thomas has a valid point there. He competed against the Celtics and the Lakers to rule the East and the league. Bird and Magic were the biggest stars in the NBA until Thomas and his Pistons decided to crash their plans and become back-to-back NBA champions.
They defeated the Bulls in three straight postseasons before Chicago finally got past them at the beginning of the 90s. According to Zeke, if there was a rivalry there, that was only from MJ’s point of view.
