Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has been known as a LeBron James defender after he started praising the Los Angeles Lakers superstar and calling him the greatest NBA player of all time, most of the time to tease Michael Jordan’s fans.
In the past couple of years, Thomas has become more and more of a LeBron fan, making big claims about the King and His Airness on social media or television. Even though he has a soft spot for LeBron, there was a time when he took a jab at the 4x NBA champion for dubbing himself the greatest player of all time.
Back in 2021, Zeke was on a phone call with ESPN’s Mike Greenberg, where he took a U-turn and sided with Michael Jordan instead of LeBron James. The 2x NBA champion criticized James for saying he was the GOAT, something that Michael Jordan or any player from prior eras had done (12:33):
“Well, we come from an era where there was humbleness and respect. This is the era where they say, I am the best. I’ll even bring Jordan up in this. We have never heard Michael Jordan say, he was the greatest who ever played. And this is a generation that says no, I am the greatest to do it. And they put their stamp on it, claim it. We came from an era where we didn’t claim it. We let others claim it and fight about it.”
He didn’t tell any lies, and Jordan has said many times that he couldn’t be considered the GOAT since he didn’t play against all those guys that were incredibly great in their respective eras. LeBron said he was the greatest ever after he won the 2016 championship against the Warriors, which raised many eyebrows around the league. That’s a debate for fans to have, not for players.
