The Detroit Pistons and the Chicago Bulls are both far from their glory days right now, but back in the 90s, these two rivals were the class of the NBA. Michael Jordan and the Bulls and Isiah Thomas and the Pistons used to put on absolute shows in the playoffs when the two teams would square off, and Chicago and Detroit did not like each other one bit.
In the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, the Bulls took down the Pistons to advance to the NBA Finals. In the 90s, the East often came down to a battle between Detroit and Chicago. The Bulls won that series, and the Pistons walked off the court without shaking hands. Michael Jordan was upset about that, but Isiah Thomas doesn't think it was a big deal.
“Chicago, they’re the only champion that still cries about somebody not shaking their hand,” Thomas said during a recent appearance on the Draymond Green Show.
Thomas went on to discuss a lot of the beef that he and Jordan have had over the years, and he even suggested that back in the day, they could've settled their disputes with their fists. However, Thomas knows that he is too old for that now.
“I never knew this dude felt the way he felt until the Last Dance,” Thomas said of Jordan. “I'm like all these years you've been standing behind a tree throwing stones and letting somebody else take the fall for it. I never knew he had dislike and anger for me. Had I known, okay you know, I'm a grown man, I ain't got no problem, we come from the same place. You know at one point and time in my life I used to fight really really good and I enjoyed fighting. Now I can't do that as well as I used to now, but we wouldn't throw hands or anything but I'm just saying had I known you felt that way I definitely would have treated you differently. I was very gracious to him not only in Chicago but everywhere we went. I never thought there was any type of (issue). You know he Ahmad and I when I stopped playing we went out to dinner several times. So I never knew like until the Last Dance this dude really felt this way about me.”
These stories are a good example of how bitter this rivalry was back in the day. The Pistons and the Bulls are both struggling now, but these two teams do not like each other, and Thomas and Jordan were part of the most bitter era of the rivalry.
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