The chippiness and hatred of the old-school NBA is gone. Now more than ever, players practice together in the offseasons, making each other better, despite being from opposing teams, sometimes even rival teams.
NBA legend Michael Jordan did that too, during his Space Jam recording over the offseason, but he used it more as a scouting report than as a way to get his opponents better.
Doc Rivers recently appeared on Bill Simmons’ podcast talking about the legends of the NBA when Simmons reminded him about the “Bad Boys” Pistons. All Rivers could do was laugh as he recalled the decades-long hatred between Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas.
“You listen to Isiah talk now, I’m like, ‘Let it go,'” Doc said. “He still hasn’t let it go. I don’t remember the last time I heard Isiah Thomas say a good thing about Michael Jordan. It’s hilarious.”
Isiah can not “Let it Go”
Thomas has been on numerous podcasts and talk shows where he has a lot of things to say about Jordan, and while some seem to be kind and hurt by Jordan’s words, other times it seems he is bashing him to say something bad about Jordan.
“Your Jordan was a great player in the 80s, but they were finishing third and fourth in the diision… He was great in the 90s, but in the 80s, he was out in the first round. That’s all I got to say,” Thomas said on the NBA’s Open Court.
“He didn’t have great handles, he couldn’t go left, and if he went left more than 2-3 times he had to pick it up,” he said in an episode of the All the Smoke podcast.
Given the way Michael Jordan’s career panned out, it’s safe to say that he did in fact have great handles. He very much could go left and would punish opponents whether or not he decided to pick up his dribble.
Additionally, Michael Jordan was great in the 1980s, averaging 32.6 ppg in the 80s, winning a gold medal at the Olympics, Rookie of the Year, the Dunk Contest, and an MVP trophy, to name a few. Sorry Isiah, but maybe Doc is correct, let it go.