Michael Jordan Called Isiah Thomas-Led Pistons ‘Unworthy Champions, Terrible People And An Embarrassment To The NBA’: ‘That’s What Prompted That Walk-Out’

NBA legend and Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan hated Isiah Thomas and the Detroit Pistons. 

The Bulls and Pistons had a fierce rivalry during the Jordan-Thomas days. Detroit beat Chicago in the 1988, 1989 and 1990 playoffs and created the “Jordan Rules,” a four-step plan to prevent Jordan from scoring.

The Bulls swept the Pistons in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals after losing to their rivals in the playoffs for three straight years. Before Game 4 ended, Thomas and the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake the Bulls players’ hands.

Legendary Bulls writer Sam Smith told Alex Kennedy of HoopsHype in 2020 that Jordan destroyed the Pistons during his media session with reporters after Chicago beat Detroit in Game 3 of the 1991 conference finals, which prompted the walk-out. 

“I was there and I would have loved to have seen [this]: We were sitting in a group around Jordan and he just eviscerated the Pistons when the Bulls were up 3-0,” Smith said. “He called them unworthy champions, terrible people, an embarrassment to the NBA… And it went on for, like, a half hour. It was just stunning. And I know that’s what prompted that walk-out because the Pistons’ players didn’t know about it until the next day, basically. I think he said it in the afternoon at the Palace and it was the weekend, I think, so it probably wasn’t on the news. Then, the next day, the papers in Detroit were filled with it and it was the front-page headline when they woke up for Game 4. These are two-time champions who had been in the Finals three straight times (and it was almost four) and Jordan completely diminished their whole run and said it was worthless because of the way they played. I’m sure it was calculated in part by Michael to provoke them even more and rub it in, which was his specialty over the years. Things like that, which I saw, [would be great] for context there.”

Jordan and Thomas will likely never be friends. The NBA icons didn’t talk to each other in Cleveland in 2022 during the top 75 players ceremony. 

Thomas finished his career with averages of 19.2 points, 3.6 rebounds, 9.3 assists, 1.9 steals and 0.3 blocks. He made 12 All-Star teams and five All-NBA teams and won the 1990 Finals MVP Award. 

Meanwhile, Jordan has career averages of 30.1 points, 6.2 rebounds, 5.3 assists, 2.3 steals and 0.8 blocks. He won five MVPs, one Defensive Player of the Year Award, six Finals MVPs, three steals titles and 10 scoring titles.