NBA legend Isiah Thomas failed to make the cut of the 1992 Dream Team that won gold in the Barcelona Olympics, and the former Detroit Pistons star blamed Michael Jordan for the oversight. His suspicion was confirmed by the release of the Dream Team Tapes that revealed MJ preferred not to see Thomas on the star-studded basketball squad.
In "The Last Dance" documentary, the former Chicago Bulls superstar dismissed the allegations he influenced the decision not to invite the legendary Pistons point guard to the NBA-powered team. It turned out, however, that MJ made clear he would skip the trip to Spain if Thomas would be enlisted.
Per the report from Fox News, Jordan called up Rod Thorn, who was a member of the Team USA selection committee, and made it understood: "I won't play if Isiah Thomas is on the team."
Left to pick between Thomas and clearly the more influential Jordan, the Team USA official gave a quick answer. Thorn declared to the five-time league MVP that Thomas will not be missed and Charles Barkley anyway felt the same way as Jordan.
So Thomas was proven right but to be fair, Jordan and Barkley were not the only Dream Team members who dreaded having the guard on board. Citing league insiders, the same report indicated that Larry Bird and Magic Johnson were only too happy that Thomas was deliberately skipped by the selection people.
The snub that Jordan apparently encouraged was not surprising at all. Jordan and Thomas went through a rough history being rivals in the Eastern Conference. The so-called Detroit "Bad Boys" made life difficult for MJ and some of his Bulls teammates. The rivalry saw Jordan nursing hatred at Thomas that to this day he admitted still bothers him.
Perhaps the last straw for Jordan was the incident that immediately followed the 1991 Eastern Conference finals. The Bulls finally eliminated the Pistons and the latter decided to head back to the dressing room without shaking the hands of their stunned conquerors.
In a report by Yahoo Sports, MJ recalled about that incident and was livid about the poor display of sportsmanship, especially on the part of Thomas. It was clear that Jordan settled scores in the form of hijacking the Dream Team selection process, and Thomas felt the long-lasting effect of the revenge.
It's only sad that the real victim of the two NBA legends feuding is fair play, added the report. Nearly 30 years ago, Jordan had decided to throw his weight around and he got wished for - that is to cast Thomas out of the Dream Team, which essentially denied the man the honor of being considered for his basketball skills.
