Isiah Thomas is having a rough week. The NBA Hall-of-Famer made the TV rounds Monday after his unflattering portrayal in ESPN’s “The Last Dance” documenting the Chicago Bulls’ rise to glory in the 1990s. The former point guard has been on the defensive since Sunday night’s episodes, which centered on the Pistons’ bitter rivalry with Chicago in the late 80s and early 90s.
After years of coming up short, the Bulls’ finally broke through, sweeping the Pistons to advance to the 1991 NBA Finals against the Magic-Johnson-led Los Angeles Lakers. Rather than congratulating the Bulls on their accomplishment, the Pistons declined to shake hands with their Eastern Conference rival, retreating to the locker room before the final whistle in Chicago’s series-clinching Game 4 victory.
Predictably, that snub was poorly received with Michael Jordan and others chastising the “Bad Boy” Era Pistons’ for their lack of sportsmanship. Jordan’s animosity is understandable, given how the Pistons went out of their way to injure him, establishing their own set of “Jordan Rules” aimed at knocking the Bulls legend to the hardwood any time he so much as sniffed the basket.
The rivalry runs even deeper with rumblings that Thomas organized a “freeze out” of Jordan in the 1985 All-Star Game. It's also been suggested MJ had Thomas left off the Dream Team that dominated the Barcelona Olympics in 1992. However, long-time NBA exec Rod Thorn seemed to debunk the latter theory Wednesday on ESPN’s Golic and Wingo, claiming Isiah’s name never came up during Jordan’s Dream Team recruitment.
“There was never anything in my conversation with [Jordan] that had to do with Isiah Thomas, period,” said Thorn, who was instrumental in assembling the team that barely broke a sweat on its way to an Olympic gold medal. “Now, if that in fact happened, then it happened with somebody else; because when I talked to him, he ended up saying he would definitely do it."
Thomas implied Monday during an appearance on ESPN’s Get Up that Jordan may have nixed his bid for the ’92 Olympics. “I thought I should've made that Dream Team," said the two-time NBA champion, adding that being left off the roster “hurt” him. “Looking back, if I'm not a part of the Dream Team because a lapse in emotion in terms of not shaking someone's hand—if that's the reason why I didn't make the Dream Team, then I am more disappointed today than I was back then when I wasn't selected."
The Dream Team, guided ironically enough by long-time Pistons coach Chuck Daly, was well-stocked at point guard that year with Magic Johnson and John Stockton manning the 1 for Team USA. Though Thomas’ Olympic snub was the most notable, plenty of others missed the cut including perennial All-Stars Shaquille O’Neal, Reggie Miller, Dominque Wilkins and James Worthy.
While Jordan may not personally have axed Thomas’ Olympic roster bid, Thorn acknowledged the handshake controversy may have played a role in his omission. “Isiah was a great player, a fantastic player. There was some controversy with the Pistons regarding not shaking hands with the Bulls—there was some bad blood, obviously, there,” Thorn explained Wednesday. “But when we ended up going with the first 10 guys, he did not end up making the team."
Thomas had more ups than downs in his hoops career, but missing an opportunity to play on the greatest team ever clearly still eats at him.
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