It can be tough for grandparents to watch an NBA game beyond the first quarter. Their verdict often comes quickly: the league is soft. They may have a point. Fouls come easily, whistles never seem to stop, and free throws can overshadow dunks. But basketball once demanded something different. Legends like Isiah Thomas played with a relentless edge to the extent of biting rivals as and when needed!

In a conversation with SiriusXM NBA Radio, released on August 7, the Detroit Pistons legend revealed:

“I remember Robert Parish and I were going for a loose ball, and we got tied up. I don’t know why I did this, but I bit him, trying to get the ball. And I’ll never forget. He raised up his hand. He looked at me. ‘You little vampire.’ But it was understood that you was that thirsty for a win.”

Thomas described the intense hunger that defined playoff basketball in his era. Every possession mattered, and players fought relentlessly for loose balls. For Thomas, winning meant bringing that desperation to every play, especially when the stakes were highest.

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Now, it’s difficult to say if Isiah Thomas actually bit Robert Parish or not. However, Thomas’ dedication to possession definitely helped in solidifying his case as one of the NBA’s greatest stars ever.

Moreover, the Thomas-Parish rivalry isn’t a secret in the NBA. Boston and Detroit built a fierce rivalry during the Celtics-Pistons clashes of the mid to late 1980s. Their biggest showdowns came in the Eastern Conference Finals in 1987 and 1988.

The Celtics entered as the proven powerhouse, while Detroit was rising fast as the Bad Boys. Consequently, every meeting carried serious physicality, tension, and plenty of mental warfare. Most importantly, Thomas saw a hidden weapon in Parish’s game.

The Celtics center often appeared exhausted, almost fragile, as he dragged himself around the floor. Yet his performance changed whenever he received the ball. He would take control and frustrate Detroit’s Bad Boys.

“I hated it because he always seemed like he was hurt,” Isiah Thomas said on Robert Parish’s NBA 75 promo. “Like, he always had this ankle that he would fall down on his ankle, and he would stumble to get up, and everybody was like, at least on our team, it’s like, ‘Oh, The Chief is dead! The Chief is dead! He’s done.'”

“And he would rise up, and he would get up, and before you know it, he was sprinting down the court,” Zeke continued. “He would dunk it on the fast break… He was ‘The Chief.'”

Now, their rivalry wasn’t personal. Everything that ever came about were consequences of their on-court heat. And even when Isiah Thomas claimed he bit Robert Parish, the episode didn’t embitter their relationship.