Have you ever witnessed someone who is directly learning from their opponents how to beat them? Well, Detroit Pistons legend Isiah Thomas did that for almost all of his career. Former Indiana Pacers superstar Reggie Miller joined the ‘Inside the NBA’ to showcase how Thomas managed to pull that off, only to remind himself about Michael Jordan.

Miller shared, “Isiah used to travel with the Celtics back after the playoffs in the early 80s. I found that so odd…Isiah would be at the game… He was travelling on the plane, on the bus (with Celtics), and I was like, ‘Why?!’. He was like, ‘I needed to know how to win…I had to learn everything about them’.” This stunning revelation left his co-hots speechless.

The funny part was that Miller wished he had done this with Michael Jordan’s Chicago Bulls. He hilariously added in the end, “That’ll be like me travelling, asking Michael Jordan, ‘Can I ride the bus with you?’. Hell nah. Would that ever happen?!” Miller related to Thomas, not about the travel, but the losing part. Anyways, he continued to throw light on the Pistons legend’s infamous stint.

Thomas would travel with Larry Bird and Co. and he would also book a ticket for the finals himself, just to watch and learn more about the Celtics. Miller thought that Magic Johnson got Thomas the tickets for the Lakers vs Celtics face-off. Surprisingly, it was the Pistons champion’s own decision.

Keeping aside the Michael Jordan analogy, did Isiah Thomas’ unexpected efforts pay off in the end? 

Miller and many others might have found Thomas’s travel with the opponents to be weird. However, he earned from it in the later years. His first victory was in the 1987 playoffs against Larry Bird’s Celtics. It was one of the most thrilling battles of the NBA playoffs, which went for 7 games. Thomas averaged 24.1 points in the postseason that year. But they couldn’t win the ultimate title.

Read more: Isiah Thomas Makes History With Ultimate Honor as 29YO Throwback Immortalized in Luxurious Fashion

Again in 1988, Thomas faced the Celtics and the results were the same. It was a 4-2 win for the Detroit Pistons, but once again, they did not win the championship. 1989 was Thomas’s most defining moment of his career. The Pistons not only swept the Celtics 3-0 in the playoffs but also won their first-ever NBA championship that season. Well, they won their second championship in the very next year, but they did not face the Celtics. 

All that travel and effort worked well for the 62-year-old. That is indeed something to learn from. What are your thoughts? 

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