The NBA in the 1980s was able to compete with Isaiah Thomas's number one spot is only "Magician" Johnson. To this day, this harmless "smiling assassin" with a baby's face and a smile is still regarded as one of the greatest little men in the history of the NBA, and if it were not for the appearance of Aaron Iverson later, the "one" here could have been removed.
With the advent of the documentary "The Last Dance" about Jordan, the attention of the crowd was once again drawn back to the era of the rise of the crowd. There is no doubt that Michael Jordan dominated in that era, he attracted almost all the spotlight of the 90s NBA, and if the championship is not discussed, this timeline can be extended to the 80s. Interestingly, as strong as Michael Jordan also had a bad time, in the documentary, talking about the former nemesis Isaiah Thomas, Jordan did not hide his resentment "No matter how you try to persuade me, I think Isaiah Thomas is a bad person", it seems that the "Joe Gang Leader" still has not been able to let go of the repeated resistance of Isaiah Thomas.
Turning the clock back 30 years to today, the Eastern Conference Finals are in the midst of a great show, with the Pistons' "Bad Boy Army" led by Isaiah Thomas pitting the Bulls led by Jordan, who was already famous at the time. Prior to that, Isaiah Thomas and Jordan had met 14 times in the playoffs, with Jordan 3 wins and 11 losses, in a disadvantage. This time at home, Jordan is bound to find the field at the United Center, and the ending is as he wishes. Jordan scored 47 points and 10 rebounds to help the Bulls win. Isaiah Thomas on the other side is not to be outdone, with 36 points, 8 assists, 5 rebounds and 4 steals. The day after the match, the Bulls used home advantage to pull back a city, and the two sides drew 2-2.
But in the end, the Bulls still lost two crucial games, the Battle of King Mountain and the Battle of the Seven, and Michael Jordan was blocked by Isaiah Thomas for the third time, averaging 36.7 points per game in the playoffs that year. Perhaps even more angry for Jordan, the Pistons won the Blazers again in a neat 4-1 victory over the Finals, and Isaiah Thomas was also elected fmvp, a trophy that Jordan has coveted for many years. At that time, Jordan had won almost all the NBA awards except for the championship and FMVP. Perhaps it was also at that time that Jordan's "outrageous hatred" for Isaiah Thomas was already buried deep in his heart.
But in fact, Jordan and Isaiah Thomas's long-cherished wish has been since the 1985 All-Star Game. The full-name game of the '84-85 season gave birth to the well-known "Isolation Gate" incident, which was isolated by Michael Jordan, and the driving force of the event was Isaiah Thomas, who was already in the league at the time. In the game, because many people were signaled by Isaiah Thomas to target Jordan everywhere, Jordan's first All-Star Game trip was extremely embarrassing, with only 9 shots, a pitiful shooting rate of only 22.2%, and only 7 points after struggling for 22 minutes on the field. But Jordan at that time did not seem to realize that in the next few years the name Isaiah Thomas would become a cloud that would be difficult to shake off on his way to the championship.
Shortly after the All-Star Game, Isaiah Thomas met Jordan for the first time in the regular season. The Bulls 121-118 Pistons, Jordan 33 points, 7 rebounds, 6 assists and 37.5 percent shooting, isaiah Thomas 36 points, 6 rebounds, 9 assists and 47.6 percent shooting, and while the Bulls won the game, it was clearly Isaiah Thomas' stats that were better. But in any case, Jordan has earned a breath for his experience in the All-Star Game.
In fact, until the 88-89 season, Jordan's Bulls were not a rival to Isaiah Thomas, and Larry Bird's Celtics were the Biggest resistance for the Pistons to break out of the East. In '85-87, the Bulls were swept out of the first round by the Celtics twice in a row, and Isaiah Thomas at that time was already a superstar who could wrestle with the "big bird".
In fact, it seems that the so-called difficulties that Jordan experienced are not experienced by Isaiah Thomas, or which super giant road to victory is smooth? Isaiah Thomas's first trip to the playoffs averaged 21.4 points, 11 assists, 3.8 rebounds and 2.6 steals in five games with his opponents, and he did not escape the fate of a round of travel. The 84-85 season, although slightly improved, still hated the Eastern Conference semifinals; it was not until the 86-87 season that Isaiah Thomas, who was already an ambvp and the best regular, touched the floor of the Eastern Conference Finals for the first time, but still could not climb over the Celtic mountain. From this point of view, Isaiah Thomas's mentality and heart are far superior to Jordan's. Isaiah Thomas is not the kind of person who has been obsessed with a certain game or an opponent for many years, but it may also be that he has not folded in the hands of one person for many years like Jordan.
Although Isaiah Thomas lost to Larry Bird and Torminique Wilkins at that time, he could only be said to have won and lost. He was not blocked out of the Finals by a man for three consecutive years, like Jordan later.
The '87–88 season was the first time Jordan and Isaiah Thomas played each other in the playoffs. Although there are wins and losses in terms of data, and even Jordan is better, it is really true that the Bulls were almost swept by the Pistons. Moreover, Jordan that season can be called the "first man on active duty", he has almost won all the honors except the championship and the fmvp. And just as he embarked on the playoffs with full ambition, he found that he was actually beaten by Isaiah Thomas, who was only 1.85 meters tall, which made the "Joe Helper" how to swallow this breath. What is even more infuriating is that in the next two years, whenever Jordan was proud of the spring breeze and wanted to see all the Chang'an flowers in one day, the "Smiling Assassin" inserted a foot and let him repeatedly fold his feathers and return.
In the 1989 playoffs, Jordan averaged 34.8 points per game, and the Bulls lost 2-4 to the Pistons; in the 1990 playoffs, Jordan averaged 36.7 points per game, and the Bulls lost to the Pistons 3-4. It wasn't until the '90-91 season, when Isaiah Thomas suffered from three major injuries, a sprained foot, a thigh muscle strain, and a wrist injury, that the Pistons were no longer brave; Jordan's Bulls were able to break through from the east. It seems as if Isaiah Thomas would remain depressed if he could stay healthy. Now is it suddenly clear why a small man who averages just over 20 points in the playoffs will make Jordan jealous and hateful for so many years.
Even aside from the obstacles that Isaiah Thomas has caused to Jordan's "canonization", he is still one of the greatest superstars in the history of the NBA. Let's return to the point at the beginning of the article, the NBA in the 1980s gave birth to two historical number ones, one is Elvin Johnson, who is recognized as the first point guard in history, and the other is the "smile assassin" Isaiah Thomas. From the beginning of the 83-84 season to the end of the 86-87 season, Isaiah Thomas averaged 20 points + 10 assists per game in these four seasons, and the last one to average 20 points + 10 assists per game in four consecutive seasons was the "Ancient God" Oscar Robertson. And the names that appear on this list are all superstars who can leave their mark in the history of the NBA, such as LeBron James, Delong Williams, Elvin Johnson, Chris Paul, and the protagonist of today's story, Isaiah Thomas.
Michael Jordan has always been known as a "legend" and "myth" in the basketball world, but few people know that the "flying man" has also been suppressed by the same opponent for several years. More importantly, if it were not for the fact that this person has suffered major injuries one after another, it is really difficult to say whether Jordan can achieve the transformation from "background board" to "flying man". But competitive sports are brutal, just like the Raptors and Warriors last season, injuries, luck, timing and timing are all part of the game. In the final years of his career, Isaiah Thomas lost his former explosiveness and starting speed due to injury, and although he could still ensure efficient firepower delivery, he was no longer the "Smiling Assassin" who could pull the team at the crucial moment, and he could no longer drag a wounded leg to cut 25 points in a single quarter like he did then. With the Bulls sweeping the Eastern Conference Finals in 1991, Isaiah Thomas' Pistons dynasty came to an end.
In the 1993-1994 season, looking at Isaiah Thomas on the field who could still contribute 14.8 points and 6.9 assists, the outside world always thought that the 33-year-old man could play for a few more years, but few people knew that Isaiah Thomas was suffering from five or six injuries at that time. In the final home game of the season, Isaiah Thomas suffered another Achilles tendon tear, like the last straw that overwhelmed the camel, and made the already instrouble Isaiah Thomas completely fall.
More than two decades after retiring, Isaiah Thomas seems to have been forgotten by fans, and if it weren't for the "Last Dance" documentary that included the videos of the games between the Bulls and Pistons, how many people would still think of the elegant and wise number one position of the "Smiling Assassin"? Talking about his past grudges with Jordan, Isaiah Thomas laughs and says, "We're all just trying to win," and yes, Isaiah Thomas said long ago that he respected Jordan's accomplishments. Even jordan still complains to the camera that he is a "rotten man".