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Michael Jordan has been hailed as the basketball GOAT by many, but Kevin Durant made a case for his contemporary, LeBron James, as the best to ever lace up some basketball shoes. There's an interesting agreement with KD's thoughts from a former rival of the six-time NBA champion that sparked some intrigue.
During the pandemic, "The Last Dance," which documented Jordan's final season with the Chicago Bulls, aired on Netflix. While basketball fans marveled at the five-time NBA MVP's career, it reignited grudges from former contemporaries like Isiah Thomas.
The beef between Jordan and Thomas was the subject of headlines during their playing years. The former Pistons guard reposted Phoenix Suns star Kevin Durant's admiration of LeBron James' greatness that was posted on Instagram on Tuesday, thus creating a simple jab at Jordan by putting it on his social media account.
"Like, if you really, truly, wanna know what greatness is like, of course, you can accumulate championships in a short amount of time and accolades," Durant said in the video. "I truly appreciate somebody who has been in that s*** for a long time."
Isiah Thomas demands an apology from Michael Jordan
"The Last Dance" reignited the grudge between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas rooted in the Pistons-Bulls rivalries in the late 1980s and early 1990s. The two-time NBA champion felt deceived after participating in the documentary only to have been called names.
The Chicago Bulls had a hard time getting through the physical Detroit Pistons while Detroit won the 1989 and 1990 NBA titles. The Bad Boy Pistons, who instituted the Jordan Rules, beat Chicago in six and then seven games in the Eastern Conference finals.
Once Jordan and his crew broke the code on defeating the Pistons while sweeping the 1991 Eastern Conference finals, only a few handshakes were exchanged between the teams in Detroit. Most of the Pistons walked off before the final buzzer of the 115-94 loss that ended the series.
This was taken "personally" by Michael Jordan, airing his frustration even decades later in "The Last Dance" at Isiah Thomas.
On Draymond Green's podcast in March, Thomas said he wanted a public apology from Jordan.
“This dude got on national television, international television, and called me an a******," Thomas said at the 5:50 mark. "You can’t apologize and have a private dinner when you done embarrassed me publicly.
"If you didn’t mean it, say it publicly. Now if you meant it, let it stand. I’m good with that. All these years you’ve been standing behind a tree throwing stones.”
To date, there has been no apology from Jordan, but some view Thomas' pettiness with his acknowledgment that LeBron James is the basketball GOAT.
Aside from Thomas, others are not happy with "The Last Dance," including Jordan's teammates Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, who have also had their fair share of media appearances saying so.
