So what would happen if Isiah Thomas was never injured in that pivotal game 6 against the Lakers during 1988 NBA Finals?

"They lose," he said. "As a matter of a fact, it doesn't even get to the phantom foul on Laimbeer. They wouldn't have won. There wouldn't have been a seventh game."

"That," Thomas added, "would have given us three [titles] in a row."

Then again, the following year when the Pistons did win it all, the Lakers were hurt.

"I think that would have been a very interesting series to see," said Abdul-Jabbar, now a Knicks' scout. "I'm not going to say we would have won, but I don't think Detroit could say that they would have won either."