Zeke on a telecast of NBA on NBC alongside Bob Costas it was Jordan's last regular season game as a Bull against the Knicks. Isaiah admitted openly Jordan was the greatest player if all time without a hesitation.
I gotta add this as well. I watched the bloodbaths that the Celtics had with the Pistons in the late 80s in real time when I was in high school. This video shows the main difference between McHale and Bird. I see McHale there (genuinely) smiling and enjoying Isiah telling his Celtics vs Pistons stories. I bet Bird would want NO PART of anything like this....ever. There is only one person that hates the Pistons more than Bird. That is Michael Jordan....and even that is debatable. The Pistons used to beat up on Bird like they did to Jordan until Robert Parrish had enough and almost separated Laimbeer’s head from his body. After that, Bird had no problems from the Pistons. But yeah, Bird hates the Pistons to this very day. On the other hand, after the Pistons defeated the Celtics in 1988, McHale went over to Isiah Thomas, shook his hand, and told him to beat the Lakers. Bird wouldn’t shake any Pistons hands before OR after the games against the Celtics. Larry would have NEVER went over to any Piston (except maybe Joe Dumars) to congratulate them. Also, everyone says it was mainly Jordan that kept Isiah off the Original Dream Team. I sometimes wonder if Bird had an influence on that as well. Bird had some Braveheart-like battles with the Sixers in the 80s. Those games in the Spectrum or the old Boston Garden were way more brutal than the games against the Pistons. They would literally fight almost every game. Even preseason games. Birds jersey would literally be covered in blood at the end of the game. That being said, Bird holds Dr.J, Charles Barkley, and Moses Malone in very high regard to this very day. Bird had an interview recently and still said he respects Rick Mahorn, but still resents Laimbeer for trying to end his career in 87. There is a difference between playing hard and playing dirty. I’ve always said NBA players from the 80s have long memories. That is the reason why Bill Laimbeer has been blackballed from NBA coaching and is in WNBA purgatory. Those same players from the 80s that despised Laimbeer in the 80s (Jordan, Magic, Doc Rivers, Bird, Danny Ainge, etc) now RUN the NBA. Like I said, those guys have memories like an elephant. Isiah was too good to keep out of NBA circles. On the other hand, Laimbeer will never sniff the NBA. But yeah, Isiah looks fondly on the 80s Celtics thirty years later. The feeling is definitely not mutual between Bird and the Pistons.
As an IU fan since I was a small boy, I watched Isiah Thomas (literally) singlehandedly dominate a LOADED North Carolina team that was loaded with All Americans. Bobby Knight was stubbornly using his “motion offense system” in the first half of that game and the Hoosiers were getting destroyed. Knight swallowed his pride in the second half, gave Isiah Thomas the keys, and let him do whatever he wanted. After that, IU ran the Tarheels off the court. I never really cared for the Pistons at all, but always respected his game and his love for Hoosier country. Isiah LOVES the state of Indiana (and Bloomington especially) to this very day. He’s always at IU games, Indiana fundraisers, and he is Indiana royalty. He bleeds Crimson and Cream. I have him at #12 after Hakeem Olajuwon btw. I mentioned in a post a few months ago how fearless Bobby Knight was. Isiah was from THE hood and Knight rolled up in Chicago to recruit him. He had to walk those streets, then had to deal with Isiah’s crazy hood-assed family. Isiah’s brothers were straight up thugs. After meeting with Knight, Isiah’s mother TOLD Isiah that he’s going to IU. But yeah, these days a head coach will send his assistant coach to the hood to recruit players. Bobby Knight knew the hood of every city in the Midwest. Heck, there’s a BBQ joint in one of THE worst neighborhoods in Indianapolis and there is a picture of Bobby Knight shaking hands with the owner of the joint. Like I said, Bobby Knight gave no fucks.
Curry is one of the best shooter of his generation, however issiah didnt just bring offense. He brought scoring, facilitating, and great defense. Also he is a better player under pressure then curry is. I would take issiah over curry anyday. Not to disrespect curry, but issiah is a much better franchise player.
McHale and Zeke are 2 of the GREATEST storytellers and minds of Basketball. I'd say Kenny Smith comes after them, followed by Magic and Bird. Thanks for the upload COJ. Open Court is a very good show. Isiah Thomas is the greatest Basketball player of all time
DEE DUBZ mchale is arguably one of the most underrated power forwards in the history of the NBA McHale 1st round pick by Boston in 1980 3x champion 2x 6th man of the year 7x all star ⭐️ 6x All-Defense 1981 All-Rookie Played with Boston from 80-93 Selected to the NBA 50th Anniversary Team In 1997
@@dumisatonyjohnson8145 Agreed I have him 2nd greatest PF ever after Duncan and skill wise, McHale is arguably better, but he never got the opportunity to lead a team to multiple championship the way Timmy did...
Agreed. McHale's firing in Houston was absolutely insane as well. Anything great that comes to culture won't because Harden won't make any sacrifices to win. This is a guy who missed 2 Free throws and blamed his teammate Austin Rivers. He said Rivers caused him to miss because he was standing up and being loud on the bench lol.
They most certainly did. Especially game 6 and 7. I think it was a 7 game series. That Bucks team was deep..and the squad would of matched up a lot better against The Lakers, but Iverson had the Buzz on the streets and in Hip Hop. Every Rap and RnB Video had a touch of A.I to it. Rappers in Du-rags, baggy jeans, wrist and head bands, canerolls. Female singer and rappers having love interests dressing like A.I. The highly anticipated film A.I coming out later the same year. The NBA just couldn't sell The Bucks beating Iverson. Viewings would of plummeted
Robby Glenn Milwaukee was a pretty deep team Tim Thomas at Forward Glenn Robinson at Forward Ray Allen at SG Sam Cassell At PG Rafer Alston Jason Caffrey Ervin Johnson at Center Devin Ham Michael Redd (Limited minutes as a rookie) (George Karl-head Coach)
Robby Glenn it still baffles me to this day how The 76ers beat the Bucks with its own Big 3. I jist shake my head. The NBA never really liked Ray Allen.
1st round pick by Detroit out of IU in 1981 NCAA championship with Hoosiers in 1981 Most outstanding player of the NCAA tournament in 1981 2x All Star ⭐️MVP 1990 Finals MVP 2x NBA Champion (89 and 90) 12x All Star ⭐️ 1982 All Rookie Team Led the NBA in assists in 1985 3x All- NBA First Team 2x All-NBA Second Team Averaged 19 points 9 assists and 1.9 steals a game in his 13 year career with the Detroit Pistons (1981-1994) Considered one of the 50 greatest players in NBA history
Its a shame that the Celtics and the Pistons didnt meet in the 1987 and 1988 playoffs with fully fit squad, Bird had back problems, McHale obviously played the 1987 playoffs with a broken foot and still got to the finals in 87 and took the Lakers 6 games
Game 7 in 88 at the great western forum. Nobody ever talks about how Rodman stops and takes a jumpshot instead of driving the ball to the hoop. 9 out 10 times the Worm goes for a layup or dunk.
every single time I see footage of Larry bird it just solidifies again and again that this guy had the highest basketball iq in nba history. great vid brother
I was gonna say Dennis Johnson was the first little man to make that run, but clearly they had some other beasts on that team. Dennis Johnson was the 79’ Finals MVP. Sonics beat the Bullets in 5 games.
Interesting that you can see Isaiah Thomas taking a subservient role to Kevin McHale here on that panel because of the respect he has for the Celtics. Yet you can’t see that Kobe did same with Shaq in their interview when he praised Shaq and said he pushed the Lakers to win the championship for Shaq. If he had to do all over again I actually think Kobe would have left Shaq and the Lakers after the 2002 season but being under contract, the Lakers would have never traded him.
I agree with Isaiah Thomas, a horrible foul call against Laimbeer that sent the Great Kareem Abdul Jabbar to the free throw line that saved the Lakers and the pistons win that title in 6 games, which they would have given them 3 in a role, but the pistons should have called a timeout that was on the coaching staff.
I believe in that moment in time 89' 90' only Isaiah Thomas would have beat MJ's Bulls. Simply bcuz Isaiah was a War General. Nique wasn't a general like that.
Hell the pistons should of went to 4 straight finals had Zeke not thrown the pass or Vinnie&AD banged heads going after the ball. The Pistons had some of the strangest luck man.
Was watching 1990 game 7 bulls vs pistons crazy how deep and explosive the pistons where, mark auguire csme in and just changed the game and the bulls around MJ crumbled!!!
Don't forget Moses Malone (as an All-Star on the 1988 Washington Bullets) on Isiah's playoff victims either, CoJ. That could be an argument for putting IT above Moses on the list...
VG The only thing that holds Zeke back is that he was never considered the best player or won a MVP. That’s why he’s so disrespected and underrated imo
Concerning Isiah Thomas: The Pistons ruled in the late 80's from 1987-1990 winning the last title 1989 and should have won in 1988. As far as the Lakers/Pistons 1988, even Magic and Worthy say they knew Detroit was better and had them beaten but the refs and the lack of killing the Pistons did combine with that injury cost Detroit. Injuries cost Detroit 1987 (Adrian Dantley/Vinnie Johnson) in game 7; 1988 game 6 vs. Lakers in the NBA Finals and 1991 with Thomas with the wrist injury and having only 3 guys healthy all year. I hate when injuries make or break or cost a team titles; I like to see everyone healthy because "default" titles annoy me. Objectively I can say the Pistons underachieved and caught a bad break. I think both Isiah Thomas and Rodman held the Pistons back along with them breaking up their team for the 1991-92 season: GM Jack McClouskey wouldn't re-sign Vinnie Johnson and James Edwards for the 1991-92 season to at least see if the Pistons could re-group and vie for another title. As far as the 1987 game 5, I've looked at this 1000 times and the only logical thing I can think of is that Isiah Thomas did this on purpose because even if he turned it over, why throw the ball towards the Celtics' offensive end of the court? Why not throw the ball to either Roman or Mahorn near or at your offensive end... that's over-thinking the percentages and freaking out or doing it on purpose because that just doesn't make sense. Concerning comparing the Pistons with other great teams: The 1991-1993; 1996-1998 Bulls beat inexperienced teams and they should have won when they won aside from 1991 when Detroit was injured; Detroit was injured and Magic's 1991 Lakers were soft mentally... they lost a lot with not keeping Michael Cooper. Remember, guys like Barkley, Drexler, Kemp/Payton; Stockton/Malone were never at a championship level and Jordan's only competition was Detroit, it wasn't even Magic Johnson because the Lakers were in the West and were never a major threat to Chicago nor Chicago to them... the only barrier was the Pistons.
No what the Bulls did was play unbelievable defence and Jordan being the transcendent player he was mentally during the 90s, that even though you have good coached teams like the 1991 Lakers, the 1996 Sonics or the 1997-98 Jazz the Bulls had Michael Jordan, remember without Jordan Knicks beat the Bulls in 1994 second round and in 1995 they were 34-31 before Jordan came back and took them 47-35 without him being in supreme basketball shape. Often times teams had unbelievable talent, like the 92 Blazers, and the 1996 Magic and still couldnt beat Jordan and the Bulls
@@tashrif46 Facts thanks for setting the record straight on these terminally bitter & jealous Bad Boy Detroit Pistons fans & Michael Jordan haters because he ripped the souls out of Pistons during their 1991 Eastern Conference Finals 4-0 sweep & ended their championship run for good.
I agree the Bulls played great defense; I disagree that the 1991 Lakers, 1996 Sonics or 1997-98 Jazz were well coached. First off the 1991 Lakers: Mike D. didn't make the proper adjustments to help Magic Johnson or to bring more scoring off the bench or to enable Terry Teagle to play a solid role if Scott choked (which is what happened). Where was the other adjustment once Pippen switched on Magic? How is it that there was no spacing in the Lakers' half court offense. The Lakers were based upon Magic and the Bulls shut him down defensively based upon making him adjust mentally and physically which wore him down - now that wouldn't work if you had Michael Cooper or other guards or better coaching; plus Worthy was injured Scott choked and Perkins was soft; the Lakers had Divac bringing the ball up sometimes which tells you the coaching was terrible and there was no offensive adjustment by Mike Dun'. As far as the Sonics: They were down 0-3 and the series was over before they started playing; this is the same sorry Sonics team that won big in the regular season in 1994 and in 1995 but were bounced in the first round; their hurdle was the first round nothing else which tells you they were mentally weak; they always matched up well vs. Houston and Utah choked in the 1996 WCF missing free throws so the Sonics were weak and couldn't even come back in 1997 to re-claim NBA dominance. This brings us to the Utah Jazz... Sloan was over rated as a coach; the man never made an adjustment when it mattered most. Karl Malone didn't know to foul in game 5 in 1997 early to save time and Karl would take those bad shots in key moments yet no coaches made him stay in the paint and get to the line? Plus, Sloan had to put the pressure on Stockton to score more and break down the defense but he never did - BAD COACHING! Not to mention where was the double team in 1998 on Jordan for his game winning shot? You don't let Jordan even attempt a shot in that situation; same in 1997 in game 6 they doubled but it was the same as in game 1 so they never knew how to come at an angle... see there's a way to double a great player and then rotate well but Utah choked because Sloan is a choke coach who is okay with losing. Why do you think they lost to Sacramento in the 1999 first round lock out season? What the hell was that? He's a bad coach who had a great relationship with ownership and kept his job for hell of a long time. The reason why the Bulls sucked without Jordan is because all throughout Jordan was their franchise and those other Bulls' players from 1991-1994 were just role players and the only reason why BJ Armstrong, Pippen, and Grant became all-stars is due to Jordan developing them in 1990-1993. As far as the Blazers and Magic, I've already known those teams were terrible because they mentally were retarded when it came to winning. Remember, the only barrier Jordan had was Detroit, once the NBA enabled Jordan to win through politics in 1991 and the Pistons broke up their team, the way was wide opened for Jordan to dominate. To show how weak things were; the man could 3-peat, retire and come back and 3-peat again but in '95 he could miss camp only playing 17 games and still get his team to the second round. Who lost in the first round in 1995: Mourning/LJ; Kemp/Payton; Stockton/Malone... so that shows you how everyone else sucked that a man can come out of retirement and do better than those guys who were in their prime and trying to win titles winning more games in the season... sad isn't it?
Plain Simple Bro if the Utah Jazz were so badly coached how did they reach two straight NBA finals? Why is it during the 2000 and 2001 title campaigns of the LA Lakers, Phil Jackson deliberately made sure they don't meet the Utah Jazz in the earlier rounds as possible because he wasn't sure about his team why is that? Why is that during the 1998 playoffs the Utah Jazz beat the Shaq and Kobe Lakers and the Tim Duncan and David Robinson San Antonio Spurs? How did they do that with bad coaching? In 1991 the Lakers went back to the finals and were not even favourites to make it back from the Western Conference side. They faced the Bulls who were hungry and just better. Just because Jordan won doesn't mean these teams are somehow now terrible
Plain Simple Bro during 1994-95 when Jordan was still retired, Orlando was tipped to be the next dynastic team. They weren't terrible. They had great players but they didn't mature and go through the process and if they had stayed together, who knows what could have happened
I agree with you on the Isiah Thomas stuff but I find you a bit harsh on Kobe Bryant you penalize him for being on the Lakers he brought 2 titles to the Lakers put him on any team with the same roster he wins back to back let's say with the Timberwolves that changes the narrative according to your logic
Judah I took LeBron out my top 10 that dude been swept in the finals more than anyone he has very questionable championships. He loss 3 straight games in the playoffs/finals 10 times Big Bro. I had to put Kobe top 10. Bro you know Kobe faced the toughest compete by record? Of all the top 15 players Kobe had the toughest opponents. And he has a winning record vs them. I have to put Kobe Bryant in the top 10.
1:50 if steph curry is top 30 all time, where do you rank ray allen?? i have ray allen above curry as a better basketball player and nba records show he’s the best shooter to ever play.
