The best players in the league constantly butted heads in the 80s and the 90s for a seat at the throne. However, for the young fans who missed out on those days, the players still have something extra up their sleeve. Years after their fierce rivalries in the league have ended, some legendary players still hold grudges against each other for seemingly insignificant reasons. However, recently an NBA legend has expressed a hopeful end to his beef with the Chicago Bulls legend, Michael Jordan while citing legends like Magic Johnson and Karl Malone as examples.

Despite ugly battles over the years, many legends have reconciled while moving on to a new chapter in their lives. Similarly, a two-time NBA champion has expressed his desire to do the same with MJ as he recalled his time with the Los Angeles Lakers legend, Magic Johnson.

NBA legend recalls beautiful moment with Magic Johnson

The rivalries in the league are fun to watch as an audience, but behind the scenes, its after-effects cause a lot of stress to the players. Something that the Detroit Pistons legend, Isiah Thomas and the legendary Bulls no. 23, Michael Jordan haven’t yet come to terms with. However, unlike his situation with MJ, Thomas has reconciled with quite a few of his former rivals from back in the day.

Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas were not on the best terms since the 1988 NBA finals. The rift between them widened after Johnson claimed in his book When the Game was ours, that he participated in the infamous snub of Isiah Thomas from the 1992 Dream Team. Years later, in a one-on-one interview in 2017, Thomas and Johnson sat across from each other to bury the hatchet and move on from their disagreements. 

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In an attempt to explain his ‘beef’ situation with MJ on the recent episode of All The Smoke podcast, Isiah Thomas recalled the beautiful moment shared with Magic Johnson in 2017.

“You don’t realize what the other person is carrying,” said the Detroit Pistons legend. He added, “You know yourself, and your grief… but the other person who’s carrying the guilt and you have the opportunity and you can relieve them of that, not knowing that that’s how much they carrying…That was a powerful moment not only for he[Magic Johnson] and I, but it was a powerful moment for the world.“

Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas understand the impact that the conversation had on them. It was a big reason why Johnson recently mentioned his wish to see Thomas and Jordan end their long-term beef with each other.

Meanwhile, in a heartwarming moment similar to Magic Johnson, Thomas recalled putting his discrepancies with Karl Malone aside in the same podcast.

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Thomas ending his beef with Karl Malone

Back when Karl Malone was just powering through opponents as a superstar in the Utah Jazz, he faced a big thorn in the form of the Detroit Pistons and Isiah Thomas. However, rather than overpowering the Pistons no. 11 with his skills, the Jazz legend decided to literally overpower Zeke, with a scary elbow. The infamous elbow in 1991 led to Thomas receiving 40 stitches.

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However, 30 years after the 40 stitches, the two legends of the game were able to resolve everything on a phone call. The Pistons legend revealed how Karl Malone apologized to him on the call while mentioning how there was no intent on his part to injure him. Following that, both of them started weeping as a three-decade-long chapter came to a close.

Will the same happen with Michael Jordan? Do you want them to end this beef soon? Let us know in the comments below.