Jump to content

The story behind Isiah Thomas and the Dream Team


Real Deal
 Share

Recommended Posts

  • Owner

Pretty interesting, if you haven't read about this in the past.

 

OKLAHOMA CITY - Former Knicks president/coach Isiah Thomas is pilloried in a new documentary that celebrates the 20th anniversary of the 1992 “Dream Team’’ in which he was purposely left off. The 90-minute production - sponsored by Right Guard - airs Wednesday night on NBATV.

 

In a sneak preview shown at The NBA Finals for media Monday night, Michael Jordan reveals one of the “stipulations’’ for him joining the Dream Team was having his Pistons rival not included but claimed the sentiment also came from the top.

 

It has been long speculated Jordan kept Thomas off the club but the documentary reveals the snub ran deeper than just MJ.

 

Jordan’s Bulls teammate, Scottie Pippen, also said he didn’t want Thomas on the club.

 

“I despised how he played the game,’’ Pippen said of Thomas.

 

Pippen charged that Thomas spearheaded Detroit’s “Bad Boys’’ and incited the rough play.

 

“Isiah was the general,’’ Pippen said. “He was the guy who would yap at his teammates and say 'Kick them on their ass. Do whatever you have to do.' No, I didn’t want him on the Dream Team.’’

 

When asked if Jordan wanted Thomas on the 1992 Olympic club at the Barcelona Olympics, Pippen said, “I can’t speak for Michael but I don’t think he wanted him on the team.’’

Former NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said Thomas was not considered because of the incident at the end of the recent Bulls-Pistons playoff series in which he had his teammates bolt the court before the final buzzer. It was seen as a lack of sportsmanship.

 

“We were picking a group just after the Pistons had been eliminated by the Bulls,’’ Granik said. “It was very bad timing for Isiah. Everyone had that impression in their mind, the picture of Isiah walking off the court.’’

http://www.nypost.com/p/blogs/knicksblog/isiah_ripped_in_dream_team_documentary_TD0ozHEdv1l58aqTplLGGI

 

 

This is going to be awesome, by the way. June 13th (yep, tomorrow).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

So dope. The movie seems so candid and not the romantic "Dream Team" that's visualized as just a team of greats. These are the most competitive players that bring it every day and fought against each other. As a result you see them making each other better. I definitely want to see how these 1992 Olympics affected those players. I want to see it. Sucks it's on NBA tv.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imagine the practices with the best players in 92 compared to the practices with the best players today. I feel like KD and Kobe are the only guys with the sort of "I'm not here to make friends" sort of attitude it seems those guys had.

Definitely agree with that.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • Owner

And, people still claim M.J. was a good teammate. He was an awful teammate, and is lucky he had people lean on for his entire career.

MJ and Thomas weren't teammates. They were actually rivals.

 

The Dream Team, and most everyone in Chicago (including Steve Kerr, who Jordan slapped across the face), will tell you that Jordan was a very good teammate.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Imagine the practices with the best players in 92 compared to the practices with the best players today. I feel like KD and Kobe are the only guys with the sort of "I'm not here to make friends" sort of attitude it seems those guys had.

Kobe has friends on the olympic team?

 

I don't feel anyone plays with the sort of attitude that they used to in 90's...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

Loading...
 Share

×
×
  • Create New...