“But I have to agree with Rodman, if he was black, he’d be just another good guy” - Isiah Thomas sarcastically jokes about Larry Bird, recalls Pistons loss to Bird's 1987 Celtics

Larry Bird caused Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons several of their most painful playoff defeats. [Hoops Habit]

Before Michael Jordan began his reign of terror, it was Larry Bird’s Boston Celtics and Isiah Thomas’ Detroit Pistons that were the marquee matchups in the East.

The Celtics went to the NBA Finals three straight times, starting the 1983-84 season until the 1985-86 campaign. Blocking their path to yet another finals appearance in the 1987 playoffs was the emerging Bad Boy Pistons.

Isiah Thomas and the bruising play of the Pistons forced a Game 7 where they would painfully lose again to Larry Bird and the Celtics. Tempers and frustrations were high right after the game when the postgame media interview was buzzing with intensity.

In Jackie MacMullan’s Icons Club, she recalls Isiah Thomas’ comments on the Celtics’ best player and the reigning, three-time MVP at the time:

''Larry Bird is a very, very good basketball player. I think he’s an exceptional talent. But I’d have to agree with Rodman, if he was black he'd be just another good guy.”

Episode 6 of ‘Icons Club’ looks at the players—Kareem, Isiah, Rick Barry—who should be Icons, but aren’t counted as such for one reason or another. theringer.com/2022/4/5/23011…

MacMullan, who was there when the postgame interview happened, vividly remembers the fallout from the shocking statement from Thomas:

“I was there in the Boston Garden visitors’ locker room that night. I couldn’t believe what I had just heard. Within minutes, the explosive comments spread like wildfire. They were damning and they were met with a fury I’ve not seen before or since in my profession."

"Isiah would later claim he was being sarcastic, that he was joking. But I heard him say it and in that moment of frustration, he meant it.”

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Dennis Rodman, who started it all after calling Bird “overrated” and only won three MVPs because the latter was white, didn’t suffer the same fate as Thomas. “The Worm” quickly issued an apology for his racist comments before Game 1 of the Boston Celtics vs LA Lakers series.

Isiah Thomas would later clarify his comments about Larry Bird in a press conference

Isiah Thomas clarified his racist comments against Larry Bird in a joint press conference before Game 2 of the 1987 NBA Finals. [Photo: SportsRush]

Isiah Thomas’ remarks exploded and forced the Pistons’ team leader to hold a press conference in Los Angeles before Game 2 of the 1987 NBA Finals. Amazingly enough, Larry Bird would join his rival in the event and reportedly answered the furor:

“If Isiah tells me that it was in a joking matter, I think we should leave it at that.”

Robert Parish, the Boston Celtics’ starting center and a good friend of Larry Bird years later, would say this to Jackie MacMullan:

“Sore losers!!! Anybody that thinks Larry is not an all-time great is selfish or they don’t know a thing about basketball. As a matter of fact, that they even say it publicly is blasphemy. So, for Isiah and Dennis Rodman to say it, they were just pissed off and their feelings was hurt, that’s all. They really didn’t mean it.”

In 1986 Larry Bird & Isiah Thomas held a joint press conference addressing Isiah's controversial comments about Bird. pic.twitter.com/jJKsfzn3xn

The fiasco would, allegedly, be a big reason why Thomas was snubbed off the Dream Team that featured two other rivals in Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan.