A long-running rumor around basketball circles received new legs over the past few months thanks to “The Last Dance” documentary.
The documentary made clear that Michael Jordan still hates Isiah Thomas. There long had been suspicion that Jordan was behind Thomas being left off the Dream Team, and Thomas started to believe the rumor after watching the documentary.
Despite Jordan’s denials, an audio recording released by Jack McCallum on “The Dream Team Tapes” podcast seems to confirm His Airness was a big reason for Thomas’ omission.
Jordan is heard on tape saying he would not play if Thomas were on the team, which won gold at the 1992 Olympics.
Audio of Michael Jordan admitting that he told Rod Thorn that he wouldn't play on Dream Team if Isiah Thomas was on the team pic.twitter.com/TXI27fRFhV
— Viral Sports (@NotScTop10plays) May 25, 2020
“Rod Thorn called me. I said, ‘Rod, I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.’ He assured me. He said, ‘You know what? Chuck doesn’t want Isiah. So, Isiah is not going to be part of the team.’”
Thorn drafted Jordan to the Bulls and later worked for the NBA and USA Basketball, helping to select the national teams. Whether you consider MJ saying he wouldn’t play if Isiah were on the team is the same as him saying don’t put Thomas on the team is semantics. Jordan and Scottie Pippen didn’t want Isiah on the team, and we learned that back in 2012.
H/T The Spun
