Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas and Chicago Bulls shooting guard Michael Jordan were huge rivals in the late 1980s and early 1990s NBA scene, and it appears that things haven't cooled off one bit between the two even thirty years later.
Thomas recently spoke on the rivalry between the two franchises and did not mince words about his feelings towards the Chicago Hall-of-Famer.
“Every time you hit him, he was crying,” Thomas said, according to ESPN. “…going to David Stern's office, having a meeting about getting hit.”
The Bulls and Pistons met several times in the postseason during Isiah Thomas's heyday and the beginning of Michael Jordan's dominant run. The Pistons knocked Chicago out of the playoff three consecutive times from 1988-1990. In the process, they deployed a strategy known as the “Jordan Rules,” designed to knock the Chicago star off his game by using some physical (dirty?) defensive tactics.
Michael Jordan and the Bulls finally got their revenge in 1991, sweeping Detroit out of the playoffs en route to their first of six championships during the 1990s. The embarrassing defeat wasn't exactly handled with grace by Thomas and the Pistons, who infamously walked off of the court well before the final buzzer sounded in the series-deciding Game 4.
Three decades later, it appears that there is still no love lost between the two NBA icons. How much of Thomas's complaints are legitimate and how many stem from a sense of jealousy at Jordan's success is certainly up for debate, but it's definitely hard to envision them making up anytime soon.
Follow Us
Subscribe