MJ on Isiah Thomas: 'No Matter How Much I Hate Him, I Respect His Game'

There's a difference between liking somebody and respecting somebody.

Michael Jordan made that clear while discussing Isiah Thomas during the fifth episode of The Last Dance on Sunday night:

Jordan's comments were made while discussing how the 1992 Dream Team was formed. It was believed that the 57-year-old Hall of Famer only joined under the condition that Thomas not be included on the roster, but Jordan was quick to debunk that:

Jordan's Chicago Bulls and Thomas' Detroit Pistons developed one of the most heated rivalries in the league's history prior to the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Jordan's and the Bulls' quest to overtake Thomas and the Bad Boy Pistons in the late 1980s and early '90s was documented in earlier episodes of The Last Dance:

Detroit won back-to-back NBA Finals in 1989 and '90, ousting Chicago in the Eastern Conference Finals both years. Jordan captured his first of six titles in 1991 after sweeping the Pistons in the Eastern Conference Finals and upsetting the Los Angeles Lakers 4-1 in the NBA Finals.

The Last Dance chronicles Jordan, the 1997-98 Bulls and everything leading up to the dynasty's sixth and final championship.

Thomas retired following the 1993-94 campaign, but his Pistons would never make it back to the NBA Finals after Jordan and the Bulls swept them in 1991.