“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."

Isiah Thomas says he was “dominant” head to head vs. Michael Jordan;

“Head to head, I was dominant over him (Michael Jordan)...Until 1991 when I basically had career-ending wrist surgery, my record against him and his team, it really wasn’t competition there.”

via @ClubShayShay https://t.co/HB7uksFT9A

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.

.@IsiahThomas wants to remind everyone he was a Bad Boy for real!

Isiah Thomas' Playoff Record:
vs. Michael Jordan: 12-10
vs. Magic Johnson: 6-4
vs. Larry Bird: 11-11 https://t.co/sRixL14dP7

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.

📅 May 27, 1991: 29 years ago today...

Down 3-0, Pistons were 3-pt favorites in Game 4 vs. Bulls trying to avoid the sweep:

The Result? 🧹 + 🚫🤝

https://t.co/pGHo4A2vb5 twitter.com/darrenrovell/s…

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.

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.”

“MJ can’t undo what’s been done, Zeke deserved it” Shannon Sharpe believes Isiah Thomas has all the RIGHT reasons to ‘HATE’ Michael Jordan for Dream Team snub dlvr.it/STbQLd #NBA #isiahthomas

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.

Do you agree with “His Airiness”?

Either way, Michael Jordan finally picked Isiah Thomas over John Stockton for something… #Pistons https://t.co/riX206jFZz

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.