Isiah Thomas: I Have No Hate For Michael Jordan, LeBron James Is The Most Amazing Thing I’ve Ever Seen
Isiah Thomas: I Have No Hate For Michael Jordan, LeBron James Is The Most Amazing Thing I’ve Ever Seen
It looks like NBA Hall of Famer, Isiah Thomas is picking LeBron James as his favorite basketball player. During a recent interview, Isiah Thomas shared his views on basketball greats like LeBron James, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and the long rivalry with Michael Jordan.
The former bad boy had a few words to say about Los Angeles Lakers’ superstar LeBron James:
“LeBron James is the most amazing thing I’ve ever seen as a basketball player. I say Kareem’s the GOAT and everything else, but what I’m watching with LeBron James, I’ve never seen nothing like this.”
Isiah continued,
“I’ve never in my life, my basketball watching life seen a player do what LeBron James is capable of doing: assists-wise, rebounding-wise, scoring-wise, leadership-wise, off the court-wise.”
Without actual NBA games to watch, basketball fans need some entertainment. Thankfully, the highly anticipated documentary about Michael Jordan and his Chicago Bulls, “The Last Dance”, has fit the bill. When asked about the ESPN documentary, Isiah Thomas said he enjoyed it but was surprised to find out that Michael Jordan had ‘hate’ in his heart for him. MJ called Thomas an “a**hole” for walking off the court in the Bulls-Pistons series.
While Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas had a huge rivalry, he still praised him.
“I respect Isiah Thomas’ talent,”
Michael Jordan, who claims he had a gambling issue but never bet on games, said in the documentary.
“To me, the best point guard of all-time is Magic Johnson, and right behind him is Isiah Thomas. No matter how much I hate him, I respect his game.”
When asked about Michael Jordan‘s comments Thomas responded.
“We have seen each other since 1991-1992 and every time we’ve met, it’s always been friendly – it’s always been cordial. I thought everything was in between the four lines.”
While Jordan and Thomas were a part of one of the greatest rivalries in NBA history, he is unclear where they stand now. As Isiah Thomas reflected he revealed,
“I have no bitterness or hatred in my heart.”
Isiah, who also revealed that his daughter Lauren Thomas is recovering from Coronavirus, said Kareem Abdul-Jabbar was the GOAT, placing Michael Jordan as 4th on the all-time list.
“My GOAT is Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. There is no person in the history of all sports, from grade to school to high school, to college, to the NBA that had a better basketball playing career than Kareem Abdul-Jabbar. And then when you take into account what he’d done in terms of social justice during that period of time, the stance he took outside off the playing field, those are big things in my mind in terms of what the GOAT was.”
The Detroit Pistons legend is a 2x NBA champion, but some may take issue with Thomas saying Jordan was only the fourth-best player he ever faced.
Do you agree with Isiah Thomas’ ranking for Michael Jordan and praise for LeBron James? Sound off below.