In the NBA world, there are some legendary rivalries between franchises and athletes that go back for decades. There is a level of respect between the opponents, knowing that they are both at the top of their game and performance levels. However, some rivalries are fueled by hatred toward each other.
One that would fall into that category is the beef between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas. The old saying that time heals all wounds certainly does not apply here as these two could very well hate each other until the end of time.
Their rivalry dates back to when the Jordan-led Chicago Bulls and Thomas-led Detroit Pistons faced off for Eastern Conference supremacy. The Bad Boy Pistons beat up Jordan and the Bulls regularly early on in his career in what became known as “The Jordan Rules”.
Detroit put relentless pressure on Jordan, playing a physical brand of basketball that today’s players have never come close to experiencing. They would make sure that Jordan felt them and dared his teammates to beat them.
LATEST NBA NEWS: Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan & Chicago Bulls Updates
That physicality helped the Pistons defeat the Bulls in three consecutive postseasons in 1988, 1989 and 1990. Chicago would eventually break through in 1991, winning the first of their three-peat championships and six overall with Jordan at the helm.
The personal rivalry between Thomas and Jordan has multiple layers. There has been a lot of talk about Jordan being the reason that Thomas wasn’t on the 1992 Dream Team despite being one of the best basketball players in the world.
That is certainly something that still eats at Thomas and some old wounds were brought up again during the “Last Dance” documentary. The Hall of Fame point guard did not mince his words, as shared by EuroHoops.net.
“When I was watching the “Last Dance”, I’m sitting there and I’m watching it with my family and I’m thinking everything is good. And then this guy comes on television and he says that he hates me and then he calls me an asshole. And then I proceed to watch a whole documentary about him being an asshole. I’m like wait a minute, time out. Until I get a public apology, this beef is gonna go on for a long long time, cause I’m from the west side of Chicago.”
LATEST NBA NEWS: Isiah Thomas, Detroit Pistons, Michael Jordan & Chicago Bulls Updates
Even after all of these years, there is certainly no love lost between the longtime rivals. The disdain for each other runs very deep and it may never be something that the other person can get over.
It would certainly be interesting to sit Jordan and Thomas down together and see if they could hash out some of their issues, something we have seen other rivals do in the past. But, it is hard to imagine the two of them ever having a sit-down conversation, let alone sharing a room.
