November 9th 2023.
Isiah Thomas, the Basketball Hall of Famer, former Detroit Bad Boy, and two-time NBA champion, recently voiced his opinion on the reported bad blood between him and the Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan. During his appearance at the ForbesBLK summit in Atlanta on November 6th, Thomas claimed he was unaware of any animosity until he saw the 2020 documentary series The Last Dance.
“This beef that we supposedly had,” Thomas said, “well, I didn’t know anything about it until The Last Dance.” He went on to explain that he had a strong connection to Jordan due to his nephew living with the Bulls star when he first arrived in Chicago.
Thomas expressed a willingness to make peace with Jordan if an olive branch were offered. “I don’t hate anybody. If the brother came here and sat down today and wanted to have an honest conversation — keyword, honest — I’m down for it,” the basketball champion said.
However, the Bulls and Pistons rivalry was a prominent fixture of the 90s era of basketball and many fans still remember the infamous “Jordan Rules” designed to stop the six-time NBA champion. During The Last Dance, both players seemed to hint at their on-court rivalry spilling into real life. Jordan claimed that he was not the reason Thomas was kept off the famous 1992 U.S. Men’s Olympic basketball team, but Thomas himself remains puzzled.
“I don’t know what went into that process. I met the criteria to be selected, but I wasn’t,” Thomas said in a clip from the documentary.
It’s clear that despite the intense competition between the two, Thomas is willing to make amends. Whether or not the two will ever actually reconcile remains to be seen.
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