National Basketball Association

Isiah Thomas Can't Quit Michael Jordan

Updated Nov. 10, 2020 9:41 p.m. ET

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The feud between Detroit's "Bad Boys" and Michael Jordan's Chicago Bulls took center stage during The Last Dance documentary this summer, and those tensions were alive and well when Pistons guard Isiah Thomas joined Shannon Sharpe for the Club Shay Shay podcast this week.

The Hall of Fame point guard, who was a two-time NBA champion and 12-time All-Star, not only ranked His Airness as merely the fifth-best player he ever faced, he also said he didn't consider the Bulls superstar as his primary competition.

"When you go back and look at, until 1991, when I basically had career-ending wrist surgery, up until then, my record against him and his team, it really wasn't competition there. Sorry. He just wasn't my competition," Thomas said of Jordan. "My focus was Bird, Magic, Dr. J, and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar."

There is some merit to these claims by Thomas.

During the 1980s, the Celtics won three championships, the Lakers won five and the 76ers claimed one.

Thomas' Pistons won titles in 1989 and 1990, and they eliminated Jordan's Bulls in three straight postseasons from 1988-1990. Detroit struggled consistently to get past Bird's Celtics, until finally breaking through to win the East in 1988.

The Pistons defeated the Bulls in five games in the Eastern Conference semifinals in '88, in six in the East finals in '89 and in seven games in the conference finals in '90.

In one episode of The Last Dance, Jordan discussed how he still harbored ill will toward Thomas over how he and the Pistons walked off of the court without shaking the Bulls hands following the hard-fought 1991 Eastern Conference Finals.

Jordan felt his team deserved that respect after finally ending Detroit's hold on the rivalry.

Jordan also discussed Thomas' controversial omission from the legendary Olympic team in 1992, claiming that many on the squad didn't want Thomas to be part of the Dream Team.

This prompted multiple responses from Thomas on ESPN's Get Up.

As well as Thomas sitting down with FOX Sports' Chris Broussard to discuss The Last Dance.

If the past few months have shown us anything when it comes to Thomas and Jordan, it is that no matter how many years pass, these two will never see eye to eye.

Some feuds are eternal, and this just might be one of them.

The rivalry with the Bulls wasn't the only topic Thomas discussed in his candid chat with Sharpe. He also talked about his recruitment to Indiana University by the legendary Bob Knight, his path to the NBA, and batting with Bird and Magic throughout the 1980s.

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