Did Isiah Thomas Just Say That Kevin Durant Is On Michael Jordan's Level?

Isiah Thomas is, and has always been, an astute basketball mind. Whether it’s on the court with the “Bad Boy” Pistons or at the commentary desk of NBA TV, Zeke has proven time and time again that he knows the sport like the back of his hand.

The thing is, even a genius like Thomas can be susceptible to subjectivity: biases, old grudges, that type of thing. Indeed, it’s possible that the analysis of the two-time NBA champion was tainted when he made a comment about a longtime rival.

Appearing on a recent episode of “Run It Back,” Thomas brought up a comment that he’d once made to Houston Rockets superstar Kevin Durant. According to Thomas, Durant would have been capable of achieving the success of one Michael Jordan, someone that Thomas shares a colorful history with.

“I said to Kevin Durant, if you were to play in our era and they put you in the triple post, at the mid-post area, and they took Michael Jordan out, and you played with Pippen and Kukoc…Would he have won six championships? Absolutely,” Thomas said. “Ball targeted to him every night and he’s getting up 25 to 30 attempts? He can do the same thing.”

Thomas said this in the context of lauding KD for passing MJ as no. 5 on the NBA’s all-time scoring list. While the hard numbers show that Durant has surpassed Jordan’s tally of 32,292 points, there are several more intricacies to untangle to determine whether Durant could have thrived if he had been in Jordan’s shoes.

How would Durant fare in an era when physicality on the defensive end was at an even higher level? Aside from scoring, does KD truly live up to the all-around skill set that allowed Jordan to flourish as a two-way juggernaut? Character-wise, would Durant have been able to mesh with the personalities of teammates like Scottie Pippen, Horace Grant, and Dennis Rodman? (And, for that matter, what would the chemistry between Durant and Bulls head coach Phil Jackson look like?)

Amidst all these questions, one can’t help but wonder if Thomas had another motive aside from praising Durant. Saying that KD could have done what Jordan did is, to an extent, reducing the lofty accomplishments of MJ. Here’s one more question to ponder: In making those comments, was Thomas fuelled by his longstanding animosity towards Jordan, whom he fiercely battled on and off the court in the late 80s?

Only Thomas has the answer to that question. As for the Durant-Jordan comment, it’s a scenario that can only play out in video games, fan fiction, and the minds of wildly imaginative hoops fans.