The “Dream Team” is widely considered the greatest team ever assembled. The 1992 United States men’s basketball team had a lineup that had some of the greatest players of all time. Magic Johnson, Patrick Ewing, Larry Bird, and of course, Michael Jordan were among them. Isiah Thomas however, was mysteriously left out of the team. This would become one of the most controversial decisions in basketball history.
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Pippen and Drexler Divided over Isiah Thomas in the Dream Team
Years later Clyde Drexler and Scottie Pippen, both members of the Dream Team, would be asked about it in an interview.
Pippen would flatly declare that he did not want to play with Isiah Thomas. The Bulls legend would claim that there was no room for Thomas in that team.
Clyde Drexler however would disagree. The legendary player’s answer deserves to be quoted in full.
“Well, I disagree with all that. I think the guy gets there on his own merit and look in an Olympic team, it’s all about camaraderie, you have to get along with your teammates. And because he was alienated from those guys. I don’t think anybody else had a problem with him. David Robinson, myself, Patrick, you know, we had no problem with Isiah. Isiah played an eleven-season guy and he was an all-star every season, one of the best point guards to ever play the game. So, he deserved to be on that team, especially with his head coach as our head coach, Chuck Daly. And so, the reason he was not was that we’d be together for long stretches of time and you had to get along with your teammates. But in terms of his talent, I think he should’ve been on that team.”
So there you have it. Two of the game’s greatest divided on Isiah Thomas’ exclusion from the Dream Team. The controversy is not likely to abate any time soon.
Read more: Magic Johnson Reveals Michael Jordan’s $10 Billion Business and Isiah Thomas’s Ventures Are Reasons For Why They Can End Their Feud
Jordan’s Dislike of Isiah Thomas
Indeed, Michael Jordan would address the issue in the Last Dance. Jordan’s dislike of the Piston’s legend continues to this day. All of this are further proof for theories that it was Jordan’s dislike of Thomas that led to his exclusion from the Dream Team.
Isiah Thomas retired as a legend. He was the only person arguably to beat Jordan in his prime, in 1989 and 1990. His exclusion from the team at a time when he was playing brilliantly continues was baffling. However, Clyde Drexler’s answer is proof that not everyone hated Isiah.
