Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas has weighed in on the whole NBA GOAT debate. Speaking on Fox Sports on Thursday, the Hall of Famer claimed that in his mind, he does not think that Michael Jordan can be considered as the greatest player of all time.
According to Thomas, Jordan was playing in a whole different era that did not have the level of competitiveness of today's NBA.
“I think this generation [of players] is not getting enough credit for what they're doing,” Thomas said, via Brad Botkin of CBS Sports. “Because the athletes that are in this generation are so far superior than what was in my generation. [When we were playing], Jordan was the best athlete that we had ever seen, [but] from an athletic standpoint, there are like 10 or 11 guys in the NBA right now with Jordan's athleticism. We didn't have that back then. With what [Kevin Durant] and LeBron are doing, if you put them back in the era of the '80s, with their talent, their athleticism and their skill, who's the GOAT?”
Thomas does make a pretty valid point here. There were no LeBron James or Kevin Durant-type athletes back in the day and Jordan was simply on a class of his own, and just imagining them playing in the 80s is quite amazing.
Then again, we have to remember that the physicality back then was much more intense than it is today. Surely, that would have had an effect on LeBron or Durant's play back in the day.
Finally, we have to take this statement with a grain of salt. Thomas was one of, if not Michael Jordan's biggest adversary during the late 80s/early 90s, and there's no secret that they did not exactly see eye to eye. Perhaps there is still that competitive fire left in Thomas' belly, which leaves him with a bit of bias against Jordan.
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