Michael Jordan is the greatest name in the world of basketball legends. Michael Jordan is renowned for his phenomenal basketball skills and leaves one of the longest-lasting legacies in the NBA. The “Dream Team” was introduced to the world back in the summer of 1992. It was a dream team that comprised some of the greatest players in the history of basketball such as Magic Johnson, and Larry Bird among others.

However, in spite of this, there are moments in the life of every athlete that they would like to revoke including the 31 YO incident that happened at the Olympics.

Isaiah Thomas’s Exclusion from the “Dream Team” and His Complex Rivalry with Michael Jordan

There was one notable missing figure in that line-up and it was none other than the point guard of the Detroit Pistons, Isaiah Thomas. Two important hits that struck Thomas had resulted in this wound that we are excavating today, from the Olympic games.

Initially, the tournament faced trouble in terms of a political boycott from the USA, which deprived many players of a chance to play for their national teams in the final grand tournament of all. He suffered a second and far more personal setback when Michael Jordan, himself, excluded him from the team.

“A season in basketball history comes alive yet again,” asserts Rich Cohen, a 55-year-old author from Chicago who recently published a book named ‘When The Game Was War’, that takes the readers back in time to the golden era of basketball between 1987. In this book, Cohen brings out struggles of Thomas not only on the court, but also during the battle for superiority between him and Jordan.

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In an interview Cohen also addressed the case of Thomas in the “Dream” In an amazingly intense, resilient way, Cohen portrays Thomas as the perfect example of how a man should lead his life, saying, “He who wins is the one who gets up one more time when he’s knocked down, he’ll be the winner.”
This passion for the history of basketball shines through as the writer has collected various memorabilia while covering Chicago sports. He stated, “On the desk where I write, I have a brick that was once part of the Chicago Stadium.”

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In Cohen’s book, the great fights on the court are rediscovered as well as his personal stories. Cohen added; “It could be more than basketball. It could have been my childhood when my parents were young my life was new, and the stars of the game were at their peak. That period marked the essence of the games.”

Rich Cohen’s Time Machine to the Basketball Legends’ Era

Digging into this 31-year-old scar in the chronicles of basketball history, it is evident that not all wounds have healed. In this light, the exclusion of Isaiah Thomas from the Dream Team and the ruptured relationship with Michael Jordan signify a fierce competition with profound implications that were beyond the confines of the game.

‘When The Game Was War’ by Rich Cohen has become a time machine, that gives us an opportunity to travel deep into the past. It reminds us that even the greatest athletes, like Michael Jordan, have their moments of controversy and rivalry.