Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas talks social media, GOATs and Gulf NBA games

ABU DHABI: Basketball Hall-of-Famer Isiah Thomas laughs when he considers the idea of him and his teammates from the Bad Boys-era Detroit Pistons having social media during their playing days in the 1980s and early ‘90s.

One of the most explosive point guards the game has ever seen, Thomas led the ‘Bad Boys’ to two championship titles in 1989 and 1990 and the Pistons were Michael Jordan’s ultimate nemeses as they knocked out the Chicago Bulls three years in a row before the tables finally turned in 1991.

Thomas, Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Bill Lambier, Joe Dumars and Rick Mahorn were the poster boys for the Pistons at the time and were the reason the team was labeled as extremely physical and aggressive.

“I can’t imagine Dennis Rodman, John Salley, Bill Lambier on social media back in the day. That would have been funny,” said Thomas with a chuckle as he spoke to Arab News at the NBA District fan zone in Abu Dhabi on Friday.

In the ‘Last Dance’ docu-series released in 2020 that chronicled the Bulls’ journey with Jordan – who produced the series – the Pistons were painted as the villains of the story. It included the infamous moment from 1991 when the Detroit players walked off court before the horn without shaking their opponents’ hands after losing to the Bulls.

The incident saw the Pistons heavily criticized and Thomas reckons the team’s reputation would have been even worse had there been social media at the time.

“Oh, we would have been perceived very differently because the information that was out and about how disparagingly Michael Jordan was talking about, not only the Pistons but also the state of Michigan, those words would have been known worldwide, as opposed to just in a small section,” said Thomas.