Detroit Pistons former player Isiah Thomas. Kevin Jairaj-Imagn Images

Isiah Thomas used Kevin Durant to take multiple shots at Michael Jordan

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Mar 27, 2026 7:29 PM ET

Isiah Thomas and Scottie Pippen continue to vie for the title of who can dis Michael Jordan the most.

The retired Basketball Hall of Fame guard Thomas appeared this week on FanDuel TV’s “Run It Back.” During the episode, the topic of Kevin Durant recently passing Jordan on the NBA’s all-time scoring list came up.

Thomas took an opportunity to throw some thinly veiled shade at His Airness.

Thomas notably said that he once told Durant that the 1990s Chicago Bulls would still have won six championships with Durant in place of Jordan.

"I said this to Kevin Durant, 'If you would have played back in our era… and they took Michael Jordan out, and you played with [Scottie] Pippen [on the Bulls]…' Would he have won 6 championships? Absolutely."

—Isiah Thomas

(via @RunItBackFDTV)pic.twitter.com/riCpfJLAiZ
— ClutchPoints (@ClutchPoints) March 27, 2026

At another point in the show, Thomas reacted to Jordan getting surpassed by Durant on the NBA’s all-time scoring list by saying, “Love it!” (eliciting laughs from the show’s hosts). Thomas did coyly try to cover up his comments however by saying that “I don’t love it because he passed MJ. S–t, a lot of people done passed him along the way, so it ain’t like this the first time he been passed.”

Kevin Durant keeps raising the bar

Isiah Thomas loves the new standard being set

And it’s not just because it passed Michael Jordan on the all-time scoring list pic.twitter.com/u8MtVavq3k
— Run It Back (@RunItBackFDTV) March 27, 2026

Envisioning what Durant would have been like in place of Jordan on the ’90s Bulls is little more than an empty thought experiment by Thomas, especially since both playing style and circumstances were far different back then. What we do know though is that Thomas has a longstanding grudge against his former NBA rival Jordan.

The point of friction between the two over the last few years has been the way that Thomas was portrayed in the Jordan-produced ESPN documentary “The Last Dance” (which Thomas has demanded a public apology from Jordan for). In recent years, Thomas has also taken largely unprompted swipes at Jordan over totally unrelated matters as well.

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

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