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NBA Icon Isiah Thomas Issues Strong Statement on Michael Jordan’s GM With Bulls

Originally posted on Athlon Sports | By Ashish Mathur | Last updated Apr 9, 2025 4:51 PM ET

Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls and Isiah Thomas’ Detroit Pistons had an intense rivalry back in the day. Detroit beat Chicago in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 playoffs and created the “Jordan Rules,” a four-step plan to prevent Jordan from scoring.

The Bulls swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after losing to their rivals in the playoffs for three straight years. Before Game 4 ended, Thomas and the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake the Bulls players’ hands.

Thomas and Jordan are not friends and many Bulls fans don't like Thomas. However, the Pistons legend recently praised Chicago's general manager during the Jordan era.

The late great Jerry Krause, who didn't have a good relationship with Jordan either, was the architect of the Bulls in the '90s. Chicago went 6-0 in the NBA Finals and three-peated twice.

"Jerry Krause is the best general manager in Chicago sports history,” Thomas told Brandon 'Scoop B' Robinson. "There’s nobody else as an executive who brought six NBA Championships to the city of Chicago. Name me somebody else who was better!”

The Bulls beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the 1991 Finals, the Portland Trail Blazers in the 1992 Finals, the Phoenix Suns in the 1993 Finals, the Seattle SuperSonics in the 1996 Finals and the Utah Jazz in the 1997 and 1998 Finals.

Jordan won all six Finals MVPs for the Bulls. He finished his career with five MVPs, six titles, six Finals MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award and 10 scoring titles.

Krause passed away in 2017. He won two Executive of the Year Awards with the Bulls.

This article first appeared on Athlon Sports and was syndicated with permission.

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