Michael Wilbon apologized via Twitter Monday night for making an inaccurate statement on TV earlier in the day.
Wilbon was a guest on “The Jump” on ESPN and talked about “The Last Dance” documentary with host Rachel Nichols. One part of the documentary that has made headlines was the rehashing of Isiah Thomas being left off the “Dream Team” that won gold at the 1992 Olympics. Michael Jordan made it clear in the documentary that he still has hard feelings towards Thomas, though MJ says he was not the reason Thomas got left off the team. Wilbon told Nichols that Jordan did not need to explicitly say “no Thomas on the team,” because that was the consensus message.
“He didn’t have to. Isiah was the face of a great and polarizing team. My best guess would be nine of those guys were not in favor of hanging out with Isiah Thomas at that time. And that’s what that summer was — it was a big hangout. It was like summer camp. They knew who they wanted to spend the summer with and they knew who they didn’t want to spent their summer with. And to hang that on Michael Jordan is inaccurate,” Wilbon said.
“Was Isiah Thomas in their class as a player? Oh my god, yes. But, that group of people, I’m going to say nine out of 12, they made it known to whomever that this wasn’t somebody they wanted in their summer camp. And I know it causes Isiah pain now. I know it does.”
The Hall of Famer @RealMikeWilbon joins #TheJump – did Michael Jordan have a gambling problem? Where does Wilbon land on "Republicans wear sneakers too?" Whose fault was it really that Isiah was left off the Dream Team? We discuss… pic.twitter.com/2laT2YEwAV
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 4, 2020
Wilbon apologized later in the day and said his information was wrong and that nowhere near nine players objected to Thomas’ presence on the Dream Team.
My apologies to Isiah Thomas… multiple sources reached out to tell me I'm dead wrong to say 9 members of the Dream Team objected to Isiah being on the '92 Olympic team. Nowhere near that number objected. My apologies to Isiah for getting it wrong…
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) May 5, 2020
Wilbon had previously said that on top of Jordan and Scottie Pippen, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird also had issues with Thomas and did not want him on the team.
If it’s inaccurate to say 75 percent of the team didn’t want to play with Thomas, then maybe the truth is that Jordan and possibly a few others didn’t want Thomas on the team, and that’s why the former Detroit Pistons point guard was omitted.
Thomas recently addressed the matter and acknowledged how much it hurts him.
