The story of the 1992 Dream team’s almost mythical conquest has been retold so often, it’s almost exhausting to praise the champions over and over. Sure, the team had Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Michael Jordan, and the likes. The greatest of not only their generation but in the history of the sport. But sometimes greatness can be a tad bit boring. In fact, the stories that still remain interesting to this day from the Barcelona Olympics happened before the games. The Pistons were the still one of the greatest teams on the last few decades and Isiah Thomas was their best player, so naturally, he was one of the top talents in the country. Yet, he was suspiciously left off the Dream Team. To this day, he 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 further his claim.
Advertisement
A compilation of old interviews on Instagram, posted by the account “noblewood” showed various members of the ’92 squad talking about Thomas and his omission. The compilation included clips of both Jordan and Pippen and their words seem to be all the proof that Zeke needs to plead his case.
Pippen is seen claiming that he did not want Thomas on the team, and when asked about Jordan’s opinion, Pippen merely smiled and daftly avoided the question.
“No, I did not want him on the team. Well, I can’t speak for Michael, but uh..”
Jordan, however, laid down the law during one of his interviews. Before the interviewer had even taken a seat, he proclaimed,
“Alright. No Isiah stuff. No Isiah Thomas questions.”
View this post on Instagram
Thomas shared this post to his Instagram story, seemingly solidifying his claim that his omission was orchestrated.
Isiah Thomas on Instagram pic.twitter.com/kTnWPWW8h7
— tragicpatek (@tragicpatek) December 22, 2024
Their rivalry stemmed from their playing days, and the Bulls’ hatred of the Pistons was birthed from their legendary East conference battles and ‘violent’ defensive measures. Pistons’ championship runs aggravated the enmity between the two sides.
In 1991, on the way to their 1st title, the Bulls swept the Pistons, and the losing side walked out without shaking the winners’ hands, which really cemented the dislike between the two sides.
Isiah Thomas wants an apology from Jordan
When Michael Jordan’s ‘The Last Dance’ documentary was released, one particular episode saw the 6x MVP call Thomas an “a*****e,” which the Pistons legend did not appreciate.
Thomas, who was also featured in the docuseries, was taken aback when he learned about this, and he made an appearance on ‘All the Smoke’ to call his former rival out.
“Anywhere anytime publicly, don’t call me behind the scenes, apologising. 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!”
Jordan has refused to address this, and the ever-reclusive 6x champion seems content to let his words stay out there. Whether or not he meant them is not known to the public, but given how vocal the two were about their dislike for each other, it may be that he doesn’t want to bring up old memories again.
