Thanks to "The Last Dance," Michael Jordan's rivalry with Isiah Thomas has been well-documented. Thomas played for the Bad Boy Pistons who always seemed to get in Jordan's way whenever he went for a championship. Thomas was able to win two titles before Jordan went on his infamous first three-peat although to this day, there still seems to be quite a bit of tension between the two.

During an appearance on FS1's Speak For Yourself, Thomas spoke about his rivalries and made the bizarre claim that he never felt like MJ was his real competition. As he explains, he was more concerned about the Celtics and Lakers than he ever was about the Bulls.

Thanks to the ESPN docuseries on Michael Jordan called "The Last Dance," the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons are now being brought back into the National sports conversation. At the time, the Pistons were one of the toughest teams in professional sports and were making opponents extremely upset on a nightly basis. While Jordan's struggles with the Pistons are well-documented, Charles Barkley had his fair share of issues with the Pistons, as well.

During an appearance on The Dan Patrick Show, Barkley went off on the Pistons and accused them of not being as tough as they let on. As he explains, there were very few players on the Pistons who actually knew how to fight and that the majority of the team didn't want the smoke with him.

Isiah Thomas continues to speak out about "The Last Dance" and his role in the documentary. Last night was particularly hard for Thomas as he had to relive the time he walked off the court against the Chicago Bulls after being swept, without shaking hands. In fact, it is believed that Michael Jordan felt so disrespected by this move, that he ended up making sure Thomas never got a spot on the United States Dream Team which won Olympic Gold back in 1992.

Today, Thomas spoke about not making the "Dream Team" and noted that if his actions in 1991 were truly the reason behind his Olympic snub, he is even more disappointed now. Clearly, Thomas has built up a lot of pain inside of him over these past few years, and "The Last Dance" is making him relive all of it.

Isiah Thomas continues to be a major focal point in sports coverage these days thanks to his role in "The Last Dance." Michael Jordan hated Thomas and the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons who were constantly knocking him down and abusing him in the paint. During an episode of the documentary last night, the Pistons' aggression was on full display and young basketball fans were beginning to understand why Jordan lost so much in his early years. In fact, fans were quite critical of the Pistons' tactics.

Today on First Take, Thomas defended his former team and said that while he admits his team was very aggressive, you could easily say the same things about the Chicago Bulls. In fact, Thomas believes the Bulls modeled their defense after the Pistons and that's why they won so many championships.

Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons had a pretty negative reputation around the NBA during the late 80s and early 90s. For those who don't know, this Pistons team played a lot like the Philadelphia Flyers of the 1970s. The Flyers were a hockey team known for using fighting and physicality as a way to win games and the Pistons translated that style onto a basketball court. 

During last night's episode of "The Last Dance," we got to see a series between the Chicago Bulls and Pistons in which MJ swept Thomas is four-straight. In the decisive game, Thomas and his teammates infamously walked off the court without shaking hands which led to a lot of criticism. Almost 30 years later, Thomas and his Pistons are still made fun of for their actions that night and today on ESPN's "Get Up," Thomas apologized for all of it.

If you have been watching ESPN's Michael Jordan documentary called "The Last Dance," then you would know that Isiah Thomas of the Detroit Pistons is a major part of the series. Thomas was one of Jordan's biggest rivals out on the court and his bad boy Pistons were notorious for roughing up Jordan in ways that would simply not fly in today's NBA. During Episode 4 of the series, the Pistons' antics were on full display, and fans were pretty shocked at how Jordan was being treated.

MJ fans were so hasty to send some hate Thomas' way that they started to confuse him with the Isaiah Thomas who is in the NBA right now. The more current Thomas spells his first name differently although the pronunciations are the same, thus leading to a whole bunch of angry messages in Isaiah's mentions. The former Washington Wizard was getting plenty of hate last night and made sure to address the fans who were getting him mixed up with the Pistons legend.

Carmelo Anthony is one of the most polarizing players in the entire NBA. For years, he has been known as a gifted scorer who hasn't had very much success when it comes to the postseason. After leaving the New York Knicks, Melo played for the Oklahoma City Thunder and eventually, the Houston Rockets. His career seemed all but over at the start of the season until the Portland Trail Blazers through him a lifeline. Now, Melo is in the midst of a resurgence and fans are loving it.

The star recently claimed that he would have won two NBA championships had he been drafted by the Detroit Pistons instead of the Denver Nuggets. On ESPN's First Take, Stephen A. Smith gave his own analysis of the situation. As he explains in the clip below, Melo would have won at least one title although he thinks a second would have certainly been possible.

Derrick Rose has had an interesting NBA career. There were times when people thought he could be the second-coming of Michael Jordan in the city of Chicago. He was supposed to take the NBA crown away from the likes of LeBron James. Unfortunately, an injury changed the entire course of his career. After bouncing around the league quite a bit, Rose landed with the Detroit Pistons in the offseason and has been quite good for them. Unfortunately, Rose suffered a right ankle sprain recently and had an MRI to check the severity of it all.

According to Chris Haynes of Yahoo Sports, Rose’s MRI came back negative which is good news. Despite this, he will still have to miss a few weeks of action and will be re-evaluated in the coming weeks. At this point, it’s uncertain as to when he will be back in the lineup. 

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The Pistons had some potential this season but long losing streaks eventually squandered their playoff chances. They are 12th in the Eastern Conference with a record of 20-42. Moving forward, it’s pretty clear the team won’t make the playoffs, especially if they lose Rose for the rest of the season.

Regardless, it’s been good to see Rose playing like his old self again. It’s just unfortunate we won’t see as much of it in this last stretch of the season.

With the NBA playoffs just a couple of months away, teams are beginning to shorten their benches while also adding players the waiver wire. If you're a team who believes they can win it all, now is the best time to make some big moves in order to consolidate some depth down the stretch. The Los Angeles Lakers understand this better than anybody as they currently boast the best record in the Western Conference. Just last week, there were rumors that the Lakers would sign free agent Markieff Morris who had just been bought out by the Detroit Pistons. 

Yesterday, the Lakers made the move official on social media. Morris is averaging 11 points, 3.9 rebounds, and 1.6 assists this season. With these numbers in mind, it's clear that Morris will make an impact on this Lakers squad in terms of depth scoring. The Lakers need some extra options coming off the bench and Morris fits that bill perfectly.

The stage was being set perfectly for the drama to unfold, the likes of which we only see in Hollywood. A hometown kid blossoming into arguably the league’s best point guard - in the shadow of the league’s greatest player ever. He had put the weight of expectations, the franchise, and the entire city of Chicago on his back and was touting them towards the NBA finals for the first time since the aforementioned Jordan hit the most memorable shot in NBA history, securing the franchise’s 6th championship. It all felt right. Fitting. The year was now 2012, 16 years after the '96 Finals. The Chicago Bulls, like their leader, seemed to be an unstoppable force of destiny in the Eastern Conference. That was until the clock struck midnight on that Cinderella story and we all gasped as Derrick Rose clutched his knee with 1:19 left in game one of a home playoff match against the Atlanta Hawks. It stands as one of the most haunting calls in sports: “holding onto his knee, holding onto his knee and down…” On that day Derrick Rose’s fairytale career took a somber turn. From that moment Rose lost his cloak of invincibility and for years to follow the Most Valuable Player dealt with injury after injury, personal battle after personal battle - which left many wondering if his career would soon end unceremoniously. But it is was his resilience that would define him, not his trials.  

Former teammate Joakim Noah said on the Pardon My Take podcast that if D-Rose didn't get hurt, the Bulls "would be holding that trophy up. In my mind, still to this day, there's no question."Noah references the early 2000s when he and Rose, along with a scrappy cast of Bulls, were the biggest threat to the NBA. Rose did return following the gruesome knee injury, but after multiple knee surgeries and a fraught relationship with the media, Chicago traded Rose in 2016. He would later be traded again by Cleveland and then cut by Utah. Many felt that was the last chapter of a career that once seemed destined for greatness. To further dissolve his reputation, Rose dealt with a civil suit that alleged rape beginning in 2016. There were, however, no criminal charges filed and he was found “not liable” in that case. In the midst of these tribulations, he publicly wondered if he should step away from the game for good. Rose took leaves of absence from both the Cavaliers and Knicks for personal reasons on several occasions. Pundits and writers across the league were confounded by his waffling. Oh, how I’m sure that day in 2012 haunted him. How he wished he could go back to that moment and be the person he was before the injury. But after some soul searching, Rose recommitted himself to the game. He also committed himself to grow as a man. Rose told ESPN when talking about his journey to becoming who he is today: “I just know, [in] Chi my vibrations were low - when your vibrations are low, you hear everything, you seek everything, and me seeking or hearing everything. That was just me being attracted to how I was feeling at the time, and that’s negative, so when I changed my vibrations and matured as a person and as a man, that’s when I started to grow and develop who I was as a person and individual and change my character.”

The former Memphis guard re-emerged with a newfound sense of self and a rejuvenated passion for the game. He embraced a role coming off the bench for Minnesota and that’s when things began to turn back in his favor. During his time with the club, he starting looking more and more like the Rose we fell in love with. In his finest moment in the last five years, Rose scored 50-points with the Wolves in an incredibly emotional game. 

Fast forward to 2019-2020, Derrick Rose has been one of, if not the best story of the 2020 NBA season. Producing like a fringe all-star and occasionally delivering some of the magic that once made him a marquee superstar for one of the league’s most beloved franchises. Rose’s per-36 minute production ranks on par with his MVP season of 2010-11. He is averaging 18.5 points on 49.8 percent shooting and 5.8 assists this season. Head Coach Dwayne Casey says Rose’s play is reminiscent of his MVP season, telling the Detroit News, “He just shows his talent. Talent wins in the NBA and he’s one of our most talented players. We had (Rose) off the bench just to control his minutes and that’s on me and it’s on us (coaches). He’s been great; he’s been like the Derrick Rose of his MVP years.”