Michael Jordan?s Most Hated NBA Rival Gets Massive Praise From Shaquille O?Neal for ?Greatest Sports Story?

There have been moments where a player gets hurt in the middle of a crucial game. Injuries are a nightmare for professional athletes. It not only messes up their progress but might also have a career-long effect. There are quite a few players whose game was affected after an injury.

The 80s and the 90s era, which is favored by the veterans, is known for a rather physical game when compared to modern NBA. But not only did players get physical on both ends, but they also stood up as strong when they would go down. Michael Jordan’s first rival had a similar story.

Isiah Thomas came back in the game after twisting his ankle

In a recent episode of The Big Podcast with Shaq, O’Neal reminded everyone of some of the greatest sports stories. There have been times when a player makes a return on the floor despite being injured. Recently, in the 2019 NBA Finals, Klay Thompson came back on the floor to shoot his pair of free throws after he suffered an ACL tear. Shaq talked about guys like Isiah Thomas, whose story he regarded as one of the greatest.

“The greatest sports stories are the ones that persevere. Willis Reed, Isiah Thomas versus the Lakers when he twist his ankle and he come out, score 10-15 points straight.”, said Shaq.

This happened during the 1988 NBA Finals game 6 when Thomas injured his ankle and went to the locker room. The Pistons were up n the series, 3-2. Isiah came back in the third quarter despite terrible pain in his ankle and scored 25 points in one quarter. This was one of the most iconic performances in NBA Finals’ history.

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Michael Jordan made a playoff record after recovering from a serious injury

In Jordan’s third season, he broke his left foot and missed 64 games. Even after such a gap, he was determined to lead the Bulls to their 2nd straight playoffs. At first, he was put on a minute restriction, but then in the first round, he was free to play the whole game. Not only was he relieved to go all-in but wanted to show his best talents against the first-seeded Celtics.

In Game 1, Jordan went off as he scored 49 points. But he was not done yet, as in Game 2 Jordan made a playoff record, scoring 63 points on the Celtics. Despite an absolute god-like performance, the Bulls lost game 2. Not only that, but Michael was only 23 years old.

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