Isiah Thomas Once Revealed Michael Jordan Move That Left Him Speechless

“I swear to God, Joe and I were on the phone, and for about five minutes, man, it was just dead silence. And then all of a sudden I was like, ‘Hey man, I’ll see you at practice tomorrow,” Thomas added.

The game was Feb. 16, 1991, in which Jordan scored 26 points, assisted seven times, picked up three steals, and grabbed 11 rebounds in a 99-87 Bulls win.

He clutched the ball three times mid-air and glided from one side of the court to the other before converting the layup, which seemed like absurd good form.

There’s a timing to that moment that’s another layer of the story. The Pistons were the defending NBA champions, ‌having eliminated Jordan and the Bulls in back-to-back Eastern Conference Finals.

Knowing that a collision course existed and watching Jordan make something that extra spectacular had to be a warning sign.

Remarkably, it was only months later that the Bulls swept through Detroit in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals to end the Pistons’ run of championships and create one of the bitterest playoff exits.

But it was no ordinary walkout. It deepened a rivalry that was raging for years past and has never cooled down since.

Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan Rivalry Was About More Than Basketball

What makes this contest so fascinating is that Thomas actually has the upper hand for most of the contest. Thomas has a career 36-29 record versus Jordan going back 65 career games from 1984 to 1994, regular season 24-19, postseason 12-10.

The Detroit Bad Boys were literally designed to stop Jordan, and in the three consecutive years from 1988 to 1990, it proved to be effective enough to take back-to-back championships.

But on an individual level, the story is different. Thomas averaged 21.0 points and 9.3 assists, while Jordan averaged 31.6 points, 6.2 rebounds, and 2.3 steals on those occasions that he faced Thomas. In fact, Jordan was winning even when his team was losing the series.

Then came 1991, and it was all upside down. In the Eastern Conference Finals, Thomas was defeated by the Bulls, who swept the Pistons 4-0, and several of the crew walked off the court without shaking hands.

Who do you think won the rivalry overall, Isiah Thomas or Michael Jordan? Comment down.