Michael Jordan-Ice Thomas feud flares up again with ‘shoes and warm-ups’
One of the longest-running NBA feuds is that of Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomasformer rivals with the Chicago Bulls and Detroit Pistons in the late 1980s and 1990s, culminating in Thomas’s absence further 1992 Olympics “Dream Team”. Over the years, Jordan has remained largely silent on the matter, while Thomas has had no problem throwing criticism in Jordan’s direction, and it continued earlier this week when Thomas appeared on FanDuel’s “Run It Back.”
“You guys play with probably the best you’ve ever played, you all treat him like it’s nothing. I’m talking about LeBron…instead of pumping up your era, you’re all saying Michael Jordan is the best…LeBron holds all the records. You look at Kevin Durant, Steph Curry who talked about who’s the best, but then when you talk about a guy you all put a little shoe and a little warm up,” Thomas said, per Run It Back on X, formerly Twitter, via Heat Central.
As Thomas mentioned, some wondered how Jordan’s marketing and brand iconography might affect his perception as the greatest to ever play the sport, especially considering he played at a time when the league’s talent was diluted by the implementation of various expansion teams.
Meanwhile, LeBron James, as Thomas mentioned, holds many NBA records, including the most points scored, but many argue that those are simply longevity statistics, not an indication of who was better at his peak. Of course, there’s also the fact that Jordan won six rings to James’ four, which has been a major talking point for Jordan fans over the years.
At this point, few would argue that Curry or Durant are in the same conversation as James or Jordan, but that hasn’t stopped Thomas from throwing them into the conversation.
Either way, it doesn’t look like Thomas will be trying to bury the hatchet with Jordan anytime soon.
2026-01-08 19:20:00
