'He was followed like he was god in Chicago' - Tim Hardaway on why Isiah Thomas is the GOAT of Chi-Town

The city of Chicago is a breeding ground that has produced some of the greatest players in the NBA. Some even say that the city's long list of basketball stars produced is impressive enough to call Chicago the 'real' Mecca of hoops.

One of the best players to come out of the Windy City is Hall of Famer Tim Hardaway Sr. who played for five NBA teams and was known for his version of the crossover known as the 'UTEP-two-step'. According to Hardaway, several names have been thrown out, but for him, the GOAT of Chicago basketball is none other than Bad Boys team captain Isiah Thomas.

"They say Derrick Rose now," said Hardaway. "They say Dwyane even if Dwyane Wade is from the outskirts of Chicago. But I think you have to pick Isiah Thomas because everybody was following him. It wasn't no AAU but he was being followed like he was god in Chicago even though Mark Aguirre was doing all this stuff, but I think Isiah Thomas was the man. He was the GOAT. "

Thomas and Aguirre grew up together

Thomas and Aguirre grew up together in Chicago's west side and lived several blocks apart. The two buddies became top prospects, with Zeke starring at St. Joseph's High School in Westchester and Aguirre attending Westinghouse College Prep HS in Humboldt Park.

Isiah led St. Joseph's to the State Championship during his junior year, beating Aguirre and Westinghouse in the quarterfinals. However, it was Mark who led his school to the Chicago Public High School League championship during their senior year. Despite that, Hardaway says Zeke was the kid to watch.

"He's the guy that everyone looked up to and wanted to see play. He was a monster out there on the court. That was my basketball idol that I watched, that I groomed my game after," added Hardaway.

Isiah and Mark tried to find their way to the Bulls in the Draft

After HS, Thomas ended up going to Bloomington to play for Bob Knight. Meanwhile, Aguirre stayed at DePaul and became College Player of the Year in 1980. After Zeke led the Hoosiers to the 1981 NCAA championship, the two entered the 1981 draft together and according to Thomas, they tried to rig it to end up with their hometown team.

"Chicago had the fourth pick and the sixth pick," Thomas recalled during an interview on Club Shay Shay. "And we were trying to drop all the way down to four and six. So, every interview we did with the teams that were above us, we just blew the interview."

That was not meant to be. Dallas picked Aguirre No.1 overall while Thomas went to the Detroit Pistons at No. 2. The two Chicago GOATS ended up playing together on the Pistons' back-to-back championship teams in 1989 and 1990 with Zeke winning Finals MVP honors in 1990. Thomas also ended up getting inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in 2000.