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TOPLINE
Michael Jordan has long denied that he prevented rival Isiah Thomas from being selected for the 1992 US Olympic Team, including most recently in the wildly popular The Last Dance documentary; however, respected sportswriter Jack McCallum released audio from an old interview on Monday in which Jordan states plainly that he told a member of the selection committee, “I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.”
Luc Longley (L) and Michael Jordan (R) of the Chicago Bulls celebrate their win over the New Jersey … [+]
AFP via Getty Images
KEY FACTS
Thomas’ Detroit Piston teams were fiercely competitive with Jordan’s Chicago Bulls in the late 1980s and early ’90s, with Detroit eliminating Chicago from the playoffs in consecutive seasons.
However, Jordan and the Bulls finally defeated their bitter rivals in a clean, four-game sweep in the 1991 Eastern Conference finals.
With seconds remaining in the decisive Game 4, most of the Pistons players, including Thomas, walked off the court without shaking the Bulls’ hands.
This infuriated Jordan, and he has never hidden his disdain; in episode 4 of The Last Dance, Jordan declares, “There’s no way you can convince me [Thomas] wasn’t an a—hole.”
Jordan, the most popular athlete in the world at the time, assuredly could have influenced the construction of the roster.
Yet Jordan has always denied being responsible for keeping Thomas off the Dream Team; “You want to attribute it to me, go ahead and be my guest. But it wasn’t me,” Jordan said in The Last Dance.
However, in the third episode of his podcast, “The Dream Team Tapes,” author Jack McCallum released audio Monday evening of Jordan saying: “Rod Thorn called me. I said, ‘Rod, I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.’ He assured me. He said, ‘You know what? [Coach] Chuck [Daly] doesn’t want Isiah. So, Isiah is not going to be part of the team.'”
Big Number:
5.6 million: The 10 episodes of The Last Dance averaged 5.6 million same-day viewers, making it the most-watched documentary content ever on ESPN.
Critical quote:
“I know the criteria of selection for making the team,” Thomas told ESPN earlier this month. “I fit all the criteria. And that’s a big hole in my résumé. That’s the biggest hole in my résumé.”
Key Background:
Thomas could have certainly made a strong case for his inclusion on the Dream Team. When the team was selected in the summer of 1991, Thomas had led the Pistons to back-to-back championships, won a Finals MVP award, and had been a 10-time All-Star and five-time All-NBA honoree. However, at that point, Thomas was past his prime and, limited to 48 games by a wrist injury, averaged a career-low 16.2 points per game during the 1990-91 campaign.
Further Reading:
Michael Jordan And ‘The Last Dance’ Was A Social Media Phenomenon (Forbes)
‘Last Dance’: Michael Jordan Series Finishes as Most-Viewed ESPN Documentary Ever (Variety)
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