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Isiah Thomas Makes Bold Claim Against Michael Jordan’s 6 Rings With Kevin Durant Comparison

Originally posted on AirJordanChronicles
By Suryakant Das | Last updated Mar 28, 2026 8:49 AM ET

Years have passed since Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan hung up their sneakers, yet their feud still feels fresh, and it flared up again when Thomas took aim at MJ while comparing him to Kevin Durant.

Speaking on the Run It Back podcast, Thomas made a bold claim, stating that if Kevin Durant had been in Michael Jordan’s place on the Chicago Bulls, he believes the result would have been very similar.

“And I said this to Kevin Durant, and I’m going to say this to all of you sitting on the panel. If you put him back in our era, put him in that triple post, that mid post area, take Michael Jordan out, and you give him Scottie Pippen, Toni Kukoč, Dennis Rodman, B.J. Armstrong, Craig Hodges around him. Would he have won six championships? Absolutely,” opined Johnson.

"If they took MJ out… Would KD have won 6 championships? Absolutely."

Isiah Thomas says the Bulls would still have 6 NBA Championships if Kevin Durant replaced Michael Jordan @MichelleDBeadle | @boogiecousins | @ChandlerParsons | @TeamLou23 pic.twitter.com/pUrELZDBfw
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 26, 2026

Well, this is not a casual take, as replacing arguably the GOAT with anyone should be backed by serious facts, and Jordan is not only a six-time NBA champion. His stats clearly show why he was the best.

Thomas is not dismissing Michael Jordan, but he is saying that Durant could replace him. However, is he right? Let us have a look at the numbers.

Could Kevin Durant have done it in the 90s like Michael Jordan?

For Thomas, it’s a tale of fitness and efficiency. ‘Zeke’ expressed that Durant thrives in the mid-point zone, the very same zone where Jordan showcased his dominance; however, statistically, Durant defeats Jordan.

While MJ scored 32,292 points on 24,537 shots, Durant surpassed him by reaching the same total on just 22,180 attempts, over 2,300 fewer shots. These numbers matter because Thomas believes that if Durant had the same exposure Jordan had, he could have done the same.

However, the reality is that MJ thrived in terms of mentality, defense, leadership, and overall control of the game—qualities that even Durant agrees with, “MJ is just bigger than the game. I mean, no matter who passes him in stats, who wins more, it’s going to be hard to go 6-0. Even if you were to pass him in anything, just his impact on the sport and culture in general is just too big.”

Given that, do you believe what Isiah Thomas has to say?