For some time, there has been an ongoing debate about whether NBA players of the past would fit into the present day. And a certain former NBA player believes Isiah Thomas, who dominated the NBA in his heyday with the “Bad Boy” Detroit Pistons of the 1980s, can replace Kyrie Irving. However, the Kyrie-Isiah comparison is nothing new in the NBA. But why does Thomas’ former rival Derek Harper think Thomas was “Kyrie, Before Kyrie”?

In a recent interview with Chris Henderson, Harper opened up about his long history with Thomas, revealing they’d battled it out not just in the NBA, but back in their college days too. “I went to Illinois, he went to the University of Indiana. So I’ve competed against him for a long time,” Harper shared. He didn’t hold back in praising Thomas as a player.

” Zeke was incredible. Kyrie, before Kyrie, his handles, could score it, very intelligent… Nobody better. You start talking about all-time great point guards. Isaiah Thomas has to come up. Two championships in the NBA as well,” he said.

Interestingly, Isiah Thomas himself noticed Harper’s comments and gave them a nod of approval. Reposting the clip on X, Thomas captioned it: “Big respect for @D_Harp_12 all love Brother.”

But if you ask Thomas who the greatest point guard is, he wouldn’t pick himself. Instead, Thomas has long shown love to both Kyrie Irving and Stephen Curry. Back in May, he took to X to say, “In this era of positionless basketball… Kyrie Irving and Steph Curry… have been the best. And the most influential at this position in this era.”

Though many fans like to compare Kyrie to both Steph and Isiah, Irving himself has a different take. While reflecting on Curry, Irving once said, “It’s not a one-on-one battle between me and Steph… He’s won four championships; I have one… I just show respect to guys like that.” Irving’s comparison to Zeke is nothing new, though.

Isiah Thomas-Kyrie Irving comparisons

Over the years, many have speculated how NBA greats of the past would perform in today’s game, but Sam Cassell has no doubts about Isiah Thomas. Last year, Cassell praised Thomas’ game, saying he would still dominate in the modern NBA. “If Isiah played in this era, he’d be twenty-eight, 30 points easily,” Cassell said, adding, “He’d be Kyrie Irving. You can’t stop him. You can’t stop Isiah Thomas, man.”

Cassell’s admiration for Thomas goes way back as he started following Thomas during his Indiana days when they won the National Championship in 1981. “I watched Isiah in college at Indiana,” Cassell said, recalling the Hoosiers’ victory over North Carolina. He didn’t hold back his praise either, saying, “Right then and there, I thought Isiah was the best player in the world.”

Interestingly, Kyrie Irving’s former coach Steve Nash has also drawn parallels between the two. In an interview with Steve Serby of the New York Post, Nash explained how Isiah was his idol growing up and saw similarities in Kyrie’s game. “They’re two guys that were incredibly skilled and creative, and Isiah was my idol, so I can definitely see the comparisons straight away,” Nash said.

Reflecting on his first impression of Kyrie, Nash couldn’t recall the exact moment but knew immediately Kyrie was special. “It was obviously clear to me what a prodigious skill level he had and a flair for the game,” Nash shared. It’s safe to say the comparisons between Kyrie and Isiah aren’t going away anytime soon.