For Thomas, Jordan and the Bulls were just a younger, flashier neighbors still learning how to win.
Isiah Thomas wasn’t just another flashy point guard with a killer crossover; he was the axis around which the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons turned.
A two-time champion by 1990, Finals MVP and Chicago’s native son, Thomas had long been seasoned by the battles that shaped the decade.
So when the world tried to pit him against Michael Jordan in a one-on-one legacy war, Thomas never truly bought into the narrative. Not because he didn’t respect the gravity of Jordan’s game, but because his eyes had always been set on different titans.
Battling it out before Jordan
As the Chicago Bulls clawed for legitimacy in the mid-to-late 1980s, the Pistons were already deep into the warpath against dynasties.
The Los Angeles Lakers, Boston Celtics, Philadelphia 76ers — those were the benchmarks. Those were the giants already in motion. For Thomas, Chicago was just a younger, flashier neighbor still learning how to win.
“Dr. J [Julius Erving] was five years older than me, so they had something on me, [Larry] Bird, Kareem [Abdul Jabbar], they were a little older than me,” the legendary point guard said. “But in terms of like Jordan and Chicago, they were never my competition because they hadn’t won anything.”
Thomas’ competitive lens was shaped by championships, tangible proof of dominance. While Jordan was averaging 37.1 points per game in the 1986-87 season, Thomas was already plotting ways to dismantle Magic Johnson’s fast-break machine or counter Boston’s impenetrable frontcourt rotation.
Jordan’s Bulls had yet to emerge from the shadows of playoff heartbreaks. From 1985 to 1990, Chicago lost all four postseason matchups to Detroit. It wasn’t until 1991, after the Pistons’ long reign, that the Bulls finally swept them and stormed into the Finals.
Yet by then, Thomas was already on the other side of the mountain, with back-to-back rings, a Finals MVP award and one of the most balanced resumes of his generation.
He had captured 10 NBA All-Star appearances and left a lasting imprint on both ends of the court. At 6-foot-1 and 180 pounds, he was rarely the biggest player on the court, but his tenacity set the tone for a Pistons era defined by grit and psychological warfare.
Thomas’ benchmark
In the early ’80s, the NBA was a top-heavy league anchored by historic franchises. To break through, a player had to go through men who already wore rings. For Thomas, that meant focusing not on flash or public acclaim but on the real markers of greatness.
Jordan’s meteoric rise made headlines, but he wasn’t yet a gatekeeper.
“So I was looking at how can I beat Magic and Kareem,” Isiah said. “How can I beat McHale, Parish, Bird, Dennis Johnson — how can I beat those guys? They were all the champions.”
The 1984 Finals featured Bird’s Celtics. The 1985-1988 stretch was dominated by the Lakers’ Showtime era. Even the Sixers had claimed the throne in 1983 behind Julius Erving and Moses Malone.
Thomas had to drag Detroit out of the Eastern Conference’s cellar and into that elite circle, which demanded systemic change and relentless belief — not rivalry narratives.
In 1988, Thomas nearly toppled the Lakers single-handedly on a sprained ankle in Game 6, pouring in 25 points in a single quarter. A year later, he got his revenge, helping the Pistons win their first championship by sweeping L.A. He repeated the feat in 1990 against Clyde Drexler’s Portland Trail Blazers, averaging 27.6 points and 7.0 assists across the Finals.
Jordan, of course, would go on to claim six championships and global icon status. But legacy isn’t built in isolation.
Thomas’ Pistons helped mold the very player Jordan became. Those playoff battles, from the Jordan Rules to the infamous walk-off in ’91, were chapters in MJ’s education. But for Thomas, those were closing notes, not the main act. His battles had already been fought.