Isiah Thomas has had 30 years to contemplate the fact that Michael Jordan may have been responsible for his 1992 Dream team snub, and the Pistons legend has taken every opportunity to remind fans how he was robbed. He posted an Instagram story a couple of days ago highlighting how Jordan might have pulled strings to make sure he wasn’t a part of the team. He’s taken to his Instagram stories again, this time reposting a reel that featured Kendrick Perkins ranting about how Jordan’s ‘The Last Dance’ docuseries.
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Perkins claimed it was essentially a propaganda piece for the 6x champion, and how he wanted Thomas kept off the Barcelona Olympic squad to garner all the praise for himself.
The reel, uploaded by the Instagram account “castle_noble,” saw Perkins speak passionately about how Thomas was robbed of a rightful Olympic call-up. He spoke about how there was nothing wrong with Thomas’ character or style of play, and how his competitive nature was the only reason the selectors didn’t call him up.
“Free Zeke! Free Zeke! What is the problem with Isiah Thomas? Isiah Thomas is a great individual, and to me you know what it is? they had a problem with Isiah Thomas’ competitive nature. He was the ultimate competitor, that’s the only way i see them keeping him off the Dream Team.”
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His tirade didn’t end there as he went on to claim that ‘The Last Dance’ solely existed to elevate Jordan’s status in the eyes of the fans, while simultaneously bringing down the reputations of his teammates and rivals. The 2008 champion called MJ a liar, claiming it was no surprise the docuseries managed to make his friends, like Scottie Pippen and Horace Grant, turn on him.
“To me, the last dance was to make MJ look like a superhero and make everybody else look like a villain. Now here’s my thing. If it’s one thing I took away from it, it was full of lies and full of snitching. And when we look at Michael Jordan, he lied, he threw everybody under the bus.”
The reference to Jerry Krause serves as a reminder of how the former Bulls GM was vilified in the docuseries to such an extent that Bulls fans booed his widow at their Ring of Honor ceremony in January this year.
“At the end of the day, if you go down the line, Scottie Pippen is pissed off. Horace Grant is pissed off. Isiah Thomas is pissed off. God rest his soul, Jerry Krause wasn’t even there to defend himself.”
His words about the docuseries also ring true. In the immediate aftermath of its Netflix release, fans were taken aback by how vitriolic Jordan was when recalling certain instances over his career. His disdainful attitude toward his teammates and rivals didn’t sit well with viewers, and even nearly half a decade after its release, ‘The Last Dance’ isn’t spoken of in a positive light.
Isiah Thomas, who was one of the most criticized people in the series, also claimed that he would have been willing to work to repair his relationship with Jordan had the documentary not been released and made him look like a villain.
Thomas and Jordan’s relationship is “not salvageable”
The two guards have disliked each other for nearly 35 years now, but according to Thomas, there was always a way for them to resolve their issues, but neither of them was willing to take that step until things were damaged to the point of no return.
When speaking to Draymond Green in March this year, he explained that he was ready to take Jordan at face value, because the 6x MVP had claimed long ago that he had nothing to do with Thomas’ snub from the Dream Team. For nearly 30 years, he was under the assumption that he didn’t get in based on some cruel twist of fate until he saw The Last Dance in 2020.
After seeing the docuseries and learning how MJ had always felt about him, Thomas knew that there was no way the two would ever be able to have a working relationship, and his point was proven a few episodes later when Jordan called him an “a*****e.” Zeke told Draymond,
“No. The only way this is salvageable. This dude got on national television, international television and called me an a*****e. Somebody who’s been really good to him. And until he apologizes, on international television, ain’t no conversation.”
Jordan has refused to address this and frankly, he has never attempted to resolve anything with Thomas, unlike Magic Johnson. And in fairness, knowing Jordan and his fierce vindictiveness, it’s safe to assume he never meant to resolve anything. The man hasn’t spoken a word to his closest friend Charles Barkley since 2012 for a snide remark. If Jordan is capable of so easily distancing himself from his best friend, it’s near impossible he’d wanna be pals with his most infamous rival.
