“I’m Dead Wrong”: NBA Analyst Issues Apology to Isiah Thomas Over Harsh Comments
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There have been a few theories on why Isiah Thomas wasn’t a part of the USA Dream Team that went to the 1992 Olympics. The fifth episode of ESPN’s documentary on Michael Jordan, The Last Dance, revolved a bit around the 1992 Dream Team.
The squad consisted of NBA superstars of that generation like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, and Chris Mullin. Thomas, a star from the Detroit “Bad Boys” Pistons, was a notable exclusion from the team.
Given the fiery relationship between Jordan and Thomas, many believed the former didn’t want him in the team. Jordan has previously accepted he hated Thomas and the Pistons team. However, he said he was not behind Thomas’ exclusion from the national team for the 1992 Olympics.
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“You want to attribute it to me, go ahead and be my guest. But it wasn’t me,” Jordan said in The Last Dance.
But the Chicago Bulls legend also said that Thomas’s presence would have changed the dynamic of the team. And Jordan wasn’t the only player that the Pistons great had a feud with.
“At that point, Magic and Isiah had their thing,” Michael Wilbon said in the documentary. “Bird and Isiah had their thing. And Scottie. That’s half the team. They did not want to play with him.”
Wilbon says nine men did not want Isiah Thomas, later apologizes
Wilbon had more on why Thomas wasn’t a part of the team. In an appearance on ESPN’s ‘The Jump’ on Monday, he said that as many as nine players did not want Thomas in the team.
“I’m gonna say nine of those guys just were not in favor of hanging out with Isiah Thomas at that time, and that’s what that summer was, it was a big hangout. It was like summer camp,” Wilbon said on Monday. “They knew who they wanted to spend the summer with, and they knew who they didn’t want to spend the summer with.”
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The Hall of Famer @RealMikeWilbon joins #TheJump – did Michael Jordan have a gambling problem? Where does Wilbon land on “Republicans wear sneakers too?” Whose fault was it really that Isiah was left off the Dream Team? We discuss… pic.twitter.com/2laT2YEwAV
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 4, 2020
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However, Wilbon soon said it was a mistake from his part saying nine men did not want Thomas in the team. He tweeted an apology to Thomas on Monday saying many sources reached out to him to tell him it was a huge mistake.
“My apologies to Isiah Thomas… multiple sources reached out to tell me I’m dead wrong to say 9 members of the Dream Team objected to Isiah being on the ’92 Olympic team. Nowhere near that number objected. My apologies to Isiah for getting it wrong.” the tweet read.
My apologies to Isiah Thomas… multiple sources reached out to tell me I'm dead wrong to say 9 members of the Dream Team objected to Isiah being on the '92 Olympic team. Nowhere near that number objected. My apologies to Isiah for getting it wrong…
— Michael Wilbon (@RealMikeWilbon) May 5, 2020
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Thomas accepted the apologies as he tweeted “Thank You”.