Tales from the 1992 Dream Team reveal why Isiah Thomas was excluded

It is interesting to hear 20 years later why Isiah Thomas was left off the Dream Team. Thomas was part of the Bad Boy Detroit Pistons and in 1991 when the Chicago Bulls finally beat them for a chance to go to the finals Thomas lead his troops off the court before the final buzzer. It was a classless act that caused Thomas to miss the chance to be in the Olympics. Michael Jordan joined the team, but only if Thomas was not part of the team. So what’s the moral of the story? think befor you act. Don’t allow your emotions to control you. Because Thomas did not heed this advise and now he can only say I wish I had stuck around for the final buzzer 20 years ago, but hindsight is 20/20 and you can’t change the past.

http://aol.sportingnews.com/olympics/story/2012-06-13/dream-team-nba-tv-isiah-thomas-michael-jordan-scottie-pippen-1992-olympics

Magic Throws Isiah Under the Bus in His New Book

Back in the day there were never two basketball players as close as Magic Johnson and Isiah Thomas. They were closer than most and all of a sudden they weren’t. Johnson has written a new book When the Game Was Ours and he details why their friendship is over. He claims Thomas spread rumors that he was gay after he announced he was HIV positive in 1991. Thomas denies this allegation. Johnson also said that he was one of the players on the 1992 Olympic team that blackballed Thomas. Johnson said “I’m sad for Isiah. He has alienated so many people in his life, and he still doesn’t get it. He doesn’t understand why he wasn’t chosen for that Olympic team and that’s really too bad. You should be aware when you’ve ticked off more than half of the NBA.” Thomas said “I wish he would have called me. I always believed that our friendship was good and close enough that we wouldn’t have to talk about this stuff in such a public venue.” All of the allegations might be true. Thomas has had his share of problems since his glory days with the Detroit Pistons including failed coaching jobs and sexual harassment allegations that led to his dismissal from the Knicks, but is this any way to treat friend, or a former friend? If Johnson had beef with Thomas there have surely been times when he could have shared those feelings with him in private, but then there would be no profit in doing it that way.