How Isiah Thomas Was Once Baffled by 21-Year-Old Michael Jordan’s Greatness at the Olympics

Michael Jordan won Gold for the USA Men’s Basketball Team in the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. He was still a University of North Carolina student back then awaiting his NBA Draft. However, MJ’s moves on the court showed that he was ready to compete at the highest level with the best players in the world, according to his future rival Isiah Thomas.

Jordan competed in the ’84 Olympics with other notable NBA prospects like Patrick Ewing of Georgetown and Chris Mullin of St. John’s, back when NBA players weren’t allowed to compete in the Summer Games. The Olympic squad played against some NBA players in Phoenix to prepare for the Olympics.

During his appearance on Open Court, Isiah Thomas detailed how he was taken aback by the moves a 21-year-old Michael Jordan made on the floor. Coach Bob Knight, who was in charge of Team USA in 1984, confirmed to Thomas that the youngster is indeed a different breed of player. “When he[Michael Jordan] walked in, I was like, Damn! I remembered when we first played against him-it was the Olympic Team in 84 in Phoenix,” the Detroit Pistons legend said.

“And I remember Coach Knight[Bob] said, ‘This one a little different.’…But he[MJ] had a different kind of bounce, you know, jumping and dunking. And I was like okay, alright, alright. That’s kind of nice. And then the game started and this dude was so fast and so quick…we were like, ‘hold…hold. wait a minute,‘” Thomas added.

 

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Isiah Thomas would go on to have a storied rivalry with Michael Jordan and the Chicago Bulls. Despite Jordan’s individual success in the NBA, he would be denied an NBA Championship till 1991 because of the ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons barrier in the East. However, the Bulls eventually got past Detroit in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals to secure their first Championship.

Isiah Thomas’ snub from the Dream Team

Several reports implicated Jordan as the chief culprit behind Isiah Thomas’ exclusion from the 1992 Dream Team, despite the Chicago Bulls legend dismissing all such claims. However, there could be other reasons behind the contentious decision as well.

Most stars in the Dream Team were not really fans of the Isiah Thomas-led ‘Bad Boy’ Pistons, who earned their nickname because of their physical and rough style of play. Besides, Thomas didn’t really have a whole lot of friends in the squad. He had made some remarks about Larry Bird in the past, which didn’t really win him any favors with the Celtics star.

In addition, there were rumors that the Pistons guard had publicly questioned Magic Johnson’s sexuality after his HIV diagnosis. Thomas didn’t really impress Bulls’ Jordan and Pippen after the Pistons’ infamous walk-off following the 1991 East Finals. Besides, the two-time NBA Champion also supposedly orchestrated a freeze-out on MJ in the 1985 All-Star game. Therefore, the 1990 NBA MVP didn’t really have many strong voices speaking out for him in 1992.