The story of the 1992 Dream team’s mythical conquest has been retold so often that it has almost become exhausting to hear the champions being praised. Sure, the team had Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan — some of the greatest of all time on one roster. However, hearing their tales so many times has almost killed the charm. The stories that still remain interesting from the Barcelona Olympics, arguably, were from before the Games. Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas’ suspicious omission from the Dream Team, for instance.
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To this day, Thomas maintains Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen were instrumental in making sure he never realized his Olympic dream. He even dug up old footage and posted it on his Instagram story to substantiate the claim.
A compilation of old interviews on Instagram, posted by the account ‘noblewood’, showed various members of the 1992 squad talking about Thomas and his omission. The compilation included clips of both Jordan and Pippen. And their words seem to be the proof Zeke needed to assert his case.
Pippen is seen claiming that he did not want Thomas on the team. And, when asked about Jordan’s opinion, he smiled and tellingly avoided the question. “No, I did not want him on the team. Well, I can’t speak for Michael, but uh…,” said Scottie.
Jordan is also seen in the clip, laying down the law even before an interview started to roll. “Alright. No Isiah stuff. No Isiah Thomas questions,” Jordan stated.
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Thomas shared the post possibly to solidify his claim that his omission from the Olympic team was orchestrated. The fierce personal rivalry he had with Jordan, along with the Bulls’ hatred of the Pistons, could have been the trigger.
Isiah Thomas on Instagram pic.twitter.com/kTnWPWW8h7
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) December 22, 2024
The Pistons vs. Bulls Eastern Conference battles were legendary. And the ‘violent’ defensive ploys involved were infamous. The animosity was a natural byproduct.
In 1991, on the way to their first title, the Bulls swept the Pistons, and the losing side walked out without shaking the winners’ hands. This one instance illustrates how much bad blood was there between the players.
Thomas wants an apology from Jordan
When Jordan’s The Last Dance documentary was released, one particular episode saw the 6x MVP call Thomas an “a*****e”. Isiah, who was also featured in the series, was taken aback when he learned about this.
He had called out MJ while talking on All the Smoke at the time.
“Anywhere anytime publicly, don’t call me behind the scenes, apologizing. You got on national TV and you called me an a****le, and then you said hated me. You said that on national TV. Now if you didn’t mean it, get on national TV, and apologize for it,” Thomas said.
Jordan has refused to address this, and seems content to let his words stay out there. Whether or not he meant them is not known. But given how vocal the two are about their dislike for each other, it is a possibility that he doesn’t want to flare up old issues again by talking about it.
