“My focus was Bird, Magic, Dr. J, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar” - Isiah Thomas asserts he established dominance over Michael Jordan in the '80s

One of Isiah Thomas’ biggest claims in basketball history is his advantage in head-to-head matches against Michael Jordan. MJ is only 19-24 against “Zeke” and lost three out of four playoff rounds.

Shannon Sharpe’s "Club Shay Shay" brought back an interview with one of the leaders of the Detroit Pistons' “Bad Boys” era. Here, Thomas identified the legends he was gunning for and why Jordan was never in his league in the ‘80s.

“Just head to head, I was dominant over him — Until ‘91 when I basically had career-ending wrist surgery. Up until then, my record against him and his team, it really wasn’t competition there…He just wasn’t my competition.

Thomas continued:

"My focus was Bird, Magic, Dr. J, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. Those were the guys. I don’t care what anybody says. You can go back and look at history, those were the guys. Jordan, he dominated a different era. You put Jordan in our era, he lost a lot in our era."

The Boston Celtics, LA Lakers and Philadelphia 76ers were three of the elite teams in the ‘80s. All three franchises were stacked with talent, which was a big reason why Michael Jordan didn’t have much success against them.

During the late ‘80s, the Detroit Pistons also had more talent and experience than Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. In their first playoff series in 1988, Thomas had Adrian Dantley, Joe Dumars, Vinnie Johnson, Bill Laimbeer, John Salley and a young Dennis Rodman.

Jordan had rookies Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen, along with John Paxson and Charles Oakley. The Bulls’ second-leading scorer in that series was a journeyman named Sam Vincent. MJ simply didn’t have the supporting cast to beat the Pistons.

As the Bulls retooled and gained experience, they became more and more difficult to beat.

In 1991, Jordan's Bulls swept Isiah Thomas’ Pistons. That ECF was marred by the infamous walkout by the Pistons, who refused to shake the hands of Jordan and the Bulls.

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Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan have been throwing shots at each other long after retirement

The bad blood between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas didn’t end after they retired from the NBA. Over the past years, they’ve been going at it over different things, particularly about events during their rivalry.

Jordan claimed to have been frozen out during the 1985 All-Star Game, which was supposedly orchestrated by Isiah Thomas. Thomas ripped MJ for keeping him out of the 1992 Barcelona Olympics “Dream Team.”

The legendary point guard has also gone on record, saying that the walkout in 1991 was nothing out of the ordinary. He asserted that the Boston Celtics and the LA Lakers did that to them. The Pistons allegedly received a ton of flak just because they wanted to make Michael Jordan an even bigger star.

Unsurprisingly, both players ignored each other during the celebration of the NBA’s 75th Anniversary team. It’ll be a feud that will likely go on considering the pride and ego of both Hall of Famers.

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