Isiah Thomas at odds with Dennis Rodman's Larry Bird take: 'He would still be the MVP of the league'

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NBA rivalries die hard, and Dennis Rodman kept the rivalry between the Detroit Pistons and the Boston Celtics alive in late June, when he said three-time MVP Larry Bird would not make the NBA in today’s era of basketball. 

"If Larry Bird played in this era, I think he'd be in Europe," Rodman said on VladTV. "I’m just letting you know, man. He'd be somewhere over there."

Former NBA player Dennis Rodman coaches during the NFL Pro Bowl Weekend Celebrity All-Star Game 2023 benefiting the charity D Up On Cancer at the Cox Pavilion on Feb. 4, 2023 in Las Vegas. (Ethan Miller/Getty Images)

"His game was fit for Boston at that time in the '80s and stuff like that. Today's world, oh hell no. There's no way. I'm not downplaying him because he's a great player at that time, just like I was. But I'm saying, no. There's no way."

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Isiah Thomas, who won two championships with Rodman in Detroit, was asked about Rodman’s comments, and "Zeke" went in a completely different direction with his take.  

"My personal opinion on Larry Bird, if Larry Bird was playing today, he would still be the MVP of the league, and his team would still be winning championships," Thomas said in an appearance on "Sway’s Universe." 

"Now, why do I say that? Because we just watched ‘The Joker’ [Nikola Jokic], who is very similar to Larry Bird, take his Denver Nuggets team and win the championship. So if I look at these two players, and if I’m saying that they’re similar, then Bird would win two or three championships in this era."

NBA TV analyst Isiah Thomas looks on after Game Five of