The name Isiah Thomas is synonymous with basketball excellence but is also indistinguishably linked to a bitter rivalry with Michael Jordan. Their feud, which reached its boiling point during the 1991 NBA playoffs, has been the subject of countless debates and documentaries. However, decades later the flames of this infamous rivalry have been re-ignited. But how?
Isiah Thomas took to his X account, to retweet an ESPN article which he had captioned “Be Known.” The ESPN article talked about how the NFL team—the Las Vegas Raiders, is set to follow the same rules that were followed by the Detroit Pistons in the 1990s to stop Michael Jordan from scoring which was known as the “Jordan Rules”. Thomas’ new tweet brought the decade-long feud into the mainstream. But from this few questions arise. The first is: What is the Jordan Rule?
The “Jordan Rules” were a defensive strategy used by the Detroit Pistons against Michael Jordan during the 1989-1990 NBA Playoffs. The strategy involved a combination of physical intimidation, aggressive fouling, and double-teaming, intending to disrupt Jordan’s gameplay and make it difficult for him to score. The Pistons’ tactics were widely criticized for their intensity and borderline unsportsmanlike behavior, but they were ultimately successful in helping them defeat the Chicago Bulls and advance to the NBA Finals. Now the second question: Why is this rule relevant now?
Anthonio Pierce, who is the head coach of the Las Vegas Raiders, wants to use the same strategy by the name “Patrick Mahomes Rules” to tackle both Mahomes and the Kansas City Chiefs. Pierce had been a fan of both the teams, the Las Vegas Raiders and Detroit Pistons, since his childhood. The Raiders, under the coaching of Pierce, had a W-L record of (5-4) last year, whereas the Chiefs had a W-L record of (11-6), which was far better than the Raiders.
However, in these numbers lies a victory against the Chiefs as well. On December 25, the Mahomes-led team took a 20-14 defeat by the Raiders. Now the Raiders’ goal is to make it even more difficult for Mahomes to find open receivers and make plays, similar to how the Pistons used the “Jordan Rules” to contain Jordan.
Now another question may arise: How did the Raiders know about this strategy? The answer is simple. The Pistons during the 1980s and 1990s were known as the “Raiders of the NBA” due to their similar playing styles with the NFL team. Moreover, Mike Ornstein, who worked for Al Davis, the then-owner of the Raiders, was a good friend of Thomas. In this way, the strategies might have been communicated from the NBA world to the NFL world.
Thomas’ tweet has undoubtedly reignited his feud and also the debate about the “Jordan Rules” and their impact on the NBA. It will be interesting to see how the same tactics will help the Raiders to upend the Kansas City Chiefs and more precisely, Patrick Mahomes. However, did you know this isn’t the only time that Thomas had re-ignited the fire of the feud?
When Isiah Thomas revealed about his upcoming documentary
In the year 2020, Michael Jordan released his documentary by the name “The Last Dance.” While the documentary celebrated Chicago Bull’s six iconic championships, it also gave rise to old rivalries. Isiah Thomas was the one who was the most shocked upon watching the documentary.
Throughout the documentary, Thomas has been portrayed as an antagonist, and most surprisingly, Thomas didn’t even know Jordan had a beef with him until he watched the documentary. Moreover during ForbesBLK Summit in Atlanta Thomas even stated that he had always viewed his relationship with Jordan as a competitive one . He had even said that he doesn’t hate Jordan and is up for an honest conversation with him regarding the fued, if Jordan ever wants to talk about it.
However, in May through his X account, Thomas revealed to his fans that his documentary is in the works.”Working on it, and it will squash all the BS,” Thomas wrote as the caption of the tweet. As fans and observers await the release of the documentary, one thing is certain: the Isaiah Jordan saga will continue to be a topic of discussion for years to come.
