One of the most popular rivalries in NBA history was undoubtedly between Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan. Thomas played for the Detroit Pistons for the entirety of his career in the NBA and MJ spent almost all his time with the Chicago Bulls. At first, you’d think the beef might be because of the conference rivalry. But after decades, one of Isiah Thomas’ teammates shined some light as to why the two players were at each other’s throats during ball games. 

Michael Jordan didn’t have many rivalries with players. For him to have a beef or rivalry with someone, the other person would’ve usually had to have something over MJ. Jordan and the Bulls did have some notable rivalries with teams such as Reggie Miller’s Indiana Pacers and Karl Malone’s Utah Jazz to name a few. 

Why Isiah Thomas really went hard on Michael Jordan

But the rivalry with the Detroit Pistons was personal. Specifically with Pistons All-Star point guard, Isiah Thomas. Thomas and Jordan met in the playoffs three times. The Pistons got the best of the Bulls for two consecutive years before Jordan and the Bulls swept the Pistons and overtook the pedestal for the best team in the Eastern Conference in 1991. 

Though, after the decades-long rivalry between the two, Isaiah Thomas’ teammate John Salley gave an interesting insight as to why there was friction between the two players. Salley appeared on DJ Vlad’s YouTube channel ‘Vlad TV’ and spoke about it.

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He said, “Isiah goes home and his nephew is wearing a Bulls jersey, Michael Jordan Bulls jersey.” Isaiah told his nephew, “Hey, what’re you doing?” His nephew replied, “We’re in Chicago, that’s my team.”

Salley explained how his nephew did not understand that Isiah Thomas played for the Detroit Pistons and they don’t wear a Chicago Bulls jersey. His nephew supposedly said he’s from Chicago and he’s down the Bulls movement.

That’s when Salley said, “Isiah was mad at that. Not to Michael personally, in his brain, ‘Every time I play against this dude I’ma try to get, I’ma try to go off so my nephew sees that this is the jersey you should wear, never at Michael.”

Salley explains it was not personal

So, according to Salley, it seems as if Isiah Thomas may not have had anything against His Airness. However, things have somewhat reignited between the two legends. Isiah Thomas has demanded a public apology from Michael Jordan over his portrayal in MJ’s popular docuseries, ‘The Last Dance’.

Watch This Story – From Michael Jordan vs Isiah Thomas, to LeBron James vs Stephen Curry, and Kevin Durant vs Russell Westbrook, the best NBA rivalries of all-time

It is going to be interesting to see how MJ responds to this, if he even does at all.

Do you think Jordan will apologize to Thomas? Let us know what you think in the comments below.