Top 5 rivals of Michael Jordan across his NBA career

#3 Patrick Ewing

Head coach Patrick Ewing of the Georgetown Hoyas.

While he did not face Michael Jordan face-to-face on every play on the court, Patrick Ewing was one of MJ's biggest opponents in the NBA. Ewing's New York Knicks were one of the biggest threats to Jordan's Bulls during their championship runs.

While it was not a personal rivalry, Ewing and the Knicks faced Jordan and the Bulls in multiple heated series in the NBA Playoffs. Of course, the Chicago Bulls dominated New York while Jordan was on the court, beating them on five occasions between 1989 and 1996.

The Knicks often competed well with their physicality, but Jordan's Bulls usually prevailed.

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#2 Charles Barkley

Former NBA player Charles Barkley.

Charles Barkley enters this list mainly because of his 1992-93 NBA campaign for the Phoenix Suns. While he faced Jordan twice in the NBA Playoffs during his days with the Philadelphia 76ers and didn't succeed, Barkley has admitted that he simply thought he did not have enough help at Philly.

After he was traded to the Phoenix Suns in 1992, Barkley became the NBA MVP and led the Suns to the NBA Finals. For many fans and critics, that took him within touching distance of Jordan's throne as the best player in the league.

In the 1993 NBA Finals, Barkley and the Phoenix Suns did not have a bad series and it all came down to small details. Barkley averaged 27.3 points, 13 rebounds and 5.5 assists per game in the six-game series, but Jordan made his greatest effort in any of his six NBA Finals.

Jordan put up an NBA finals record of 41 points per game, along with 8.5 rebounds and 6.3 assists per night. The Chicago Bulls eventually escaped with the NBA title thanks to John Paxson's game-winning shot in Game 6.

While the competition was fierce, it was mostly on the court, unlike other Jordan rivalries.

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#1 Isiah Thomas

Isiah Thomas and Detroit's coach Chuck Daly.

This one is definitely number one on every list regarding Michael Jordan's rivals. Isiah Thomas and the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons defeated the Chicago Bulls in three consecutive NBA Playoffs from 1988 to 1990. Detroit's physicality made those games battles that ended regularly with Jordan's team bruised and beaten.

Thomas and the 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons were the final hurdle the Chicago Bulls had to clear on their way to their dynasty. The Pistons stopped the Bulls twice, in 1989 and 1990, in the Eastern Conference Finals.

The Detroit outfit's physicality generated friction between the two teams, as Jordan was often subject to harsh fouls and some over-the-line tactics. Jordan revealed in his documentary, The Last Dance, that he hated the Detroit Pistons.

On his side, Thomas is not a fan of Jordan either as he had constantly mentioned how other players were better than MJ. The Bulls only defeated the 'Bad Boys' in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, with a four-game sweep that ended with the Pistons walking off the court without shaking the Bulls players' hands.

Thomas has even mentioned that Jordan was not in the top 3 toughest players he had to overcome in his NBA career. Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird hold those spots in Zeke's mind.

The issue between the two former Finals MVP award winners was also noticeable in the selection of the 1992 Dream Team. Thomas was not in the squad and Jordan was believed by many to be the reason behind it.

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