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NBA Courtside: Isiah Thomas on Jalen Brunson: “This is what we know as small people. Once we get our game right, we’re looking at everybody in the NBA saying ‘you can’t guard me.’ What Jalen Brunson just proved again, when your game is tight and right, no matter what size you are, you become the best at what you do. There wasn’t a player in the NBA this year, that you can say ‘oh, he can guard Jalen Brunson.’ (Via youtu.be/bT3xMELdPPU?is =4Oj8JN583mnsYBqx …)

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Speaking on FanDuel's Run It Back, Thomas explained why he believes Brunson's championship run stands apart from those of Golden State Warriors superstar Steph Curry. "Curry did it at 6'3″ more or less shooting, scoring. Brunson and I, we did it, scoring and assisting. That is something totally different," he said. "And that's why it's so unique. Because he can assist. And then he scores. Curry was more just a scorer."

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Isiah Thomas: "I'm calling it out, guys are jealous, they get envious. You bring them on the show, then they want to talk about what they did or what somebody else did, and then they intentionally ignore the obvious. And when you intentionally ignore the obvious, then that has to come back to some jealousy or envy or just some straight-up BS. Now this man got every basketball record on the books and he ain't in your top five, you full of shit."

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ESPN Insights: Jalen Brunson is the fourth player listed at 6'2" or shorter to win NBA Finals MVP, joining: 🏀 Stephen Curry (2022) 🏀 Tony Parker (2007) 🏀 Isiah Thomas (1990) Heart over height ❤️

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Jorge Sierra: Not official yet, but Jalen Brunson is the second-shortest Finals MVP in NBA history (behind Isiah Thomas).

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Run It Back: Isiah Thomas on Game 4 of the NBA Finals: "As a basketball purist, I was happy to see the Knicks comeback and win. I was terribly upset by the way Spurs played with a 29-point lead."

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Run It Back: Isiah Thomas on former NBA players not including LeBron James on their top-5 lists: 'It's jealousy, envy... I don't mess around. I'm calling it out: Guys are jealous, feeling envious... They intentionally ignore the obvious. And when you intentionally ignore the obvious, then it has to come back to some jealousy, or some envy, or just some straight BS. Now this man has every basketball record on the books, and if he ain't in your Top 5, then you're full of sh*t.'

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Jorge Sierra: Shortest players to win a postseason MVP 6-foot-1: Isiah Thomas 6-foot-2: Tony Parker, Stephen Curry, JALEN BRUNSON Thomas, Parker and Curry all won Finals MVP, of course.

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"Could the Jordan rules work now in today's NBA, let's say against Wembanyama or SGA?" Isiah Thomas: "We actually see San Antonio doing that with SGA. Right now the new name for it is boxes and elbows. And where you see where SGA likes to shoot from mid-range, they have a double-team trap set up for him at the elbow. So if he goes right, he's forced into a double-team. If he goes left, he's forced into a double-team. On the backline, they keep Wembanyama as a rim protector. And then they have a smaller player in rotation shooting out to the corners. That's why you see those corner threes right now that OKC is knocking down. Those are the ones that they're giving up because they're taking the elbow shots or the mid-range shots away from SGA. So it's similar to what we did with Jordan. We would force Jordan left, trap him going left. SGA is more of a passer than Jordan was at that particular time. Jordan was what we called a reluctant passer. He would actually take on the double-team as a challenge and try to score over the double-team as opposed to kicking it out. And when Phil Jackson came along, put him in the triangle and put those snipers around him, that's when everything changed."

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"Have you seen anything resembling Wembanyama before?" Isiah Thomas: "I would say early early Ralph Sampson, his first three years in the NBA. I believe he was in the NBA Finals his third year, third or fourth year, he was in the NBA Finals playing against the Celtics. Upset the Laker dynasty. Remember they swept the Lakers. And that's when they changed the playoff format because they didn't want the Lakers going out early. So, right? They changed the playoff format. You know, you've been around Dan, you know what happened. You know all how the rules changed and got manipulated and everything else. I and I see you scratching your face right now, but you know, it's all good. I understand, but they didn't like the Lakers being swept, so they gave the Lakers more time to win in the playoffs. But Sampson was, he was that dominant. And if Sampson don't get hurt, you remember Bill Russell saying that, Ralph Sampson if he doesn't, if he continues on the path that he's going, he would be considered one of the greatest players, if not the greatest player to play all game."

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Charlie Villanueva on Shai Gilgeous-Alexander: I wouldn't even put him in the top 10.  Q. Give me 10 point guards, combo point guards, it doesn’t matter. Villanueva: Magic Johnson, Isiah Thomas, Stephen Curry, Allen Iverson, John Stockton… I wouldn't put him up past John Stockton, fam. Q. But that's only five you've named so far. Villanueva: Okay, let me get there! Steve Nash, Chris Paul… Okay. I'm cool. I'm cool with all these… Oh, also Tony Parker. (…) He’s not in front of Jason Kidd. (…) Bob Cousy. Pistol Pete.

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StatMuse: Cade Cunningham in Game 5 vs Cleveland: 39 PTS 7 REB 9 AST 2 STL Ties Isiah Thomas for the most 30 PT games by a Piston in a single playoff run.

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Asked about the fit between Williamson and Queen, Dumars more or less laughed off the concerns without addressing the specific strengths and weaknesses of the two players. "Just in general, the question in general, I always kind of chuckle when I hear people say, 'Well, can they play together?'" Dumars said, citing how "people questioned (Jayson) Tatum and (Jaylen) Brown" and then made a reference to his own playing career. "I was laughing this morning, like, I didn't know if I could fit with Isiah (Thomas) or not, but I knew we both had great IQs and we'd figure it out," Dumars said. "And sometimes you gotta let players figure it out. It can't just be, 'Well, they can't play together.'"

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Run It Back: "If they took MJ out... Would KD have won 6 championships? Absolutely." 🏆 Isiah Thomas says the Bulls would still have 6 NBA Championships if Kevin Durant replaced Michael Jordan 😱

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