Over the last year, the rivalry between Isiah Thomas and the 1992 Dream Team has been a recurrent topic around the NBA. The Detroit Pistons earned a bad reputation during the late 80s and early 90s thanks to their style of play and how hard they went at rivals.
The ‘Bad Boys’ are one of the most infamous teams in NBA history and that certainly cost their biggest star, Thomas, a spot on the team that represented the U.S. in the 1992 Summer Olympics. A lot has been said about that, with Michael Jordan claiming that nobody on the team actually wanted to play with the legendary point guard. David Robinson confirmed that, saying that it would have been a very awkward situation.
Magic Johnson has been the latest name to reflect on this. The Los Angeles Lakers legend joined The Bakari Sellers podcast, where he admitted that Thomas was talented enough to make the team but his antics prevented him from joining the greatest team ever assembled.
“He was supposed to be on the team… Talent-wise, without a doubt he should have been on the team,” Johnson said, via Essentially Sports. “He just had problems with so many guys on that team, or they had problems with him. And so, they let it be known that they didn’t want to play if he was going to be on the team. And that’s what really kept him off the team.”
The 5-time NBA champion revealed he was convinced that Zeke was going to make the cut but David Stern decided to pick John Stockton over here for the team’s sake.
“The Pistons. And I think that that cost him. Isiah and I was boys, so we were close friends. I thought he was going to be on it and were going to have some good times together. And it just didn’t happen and commissioner Stern decided to go in another direction… Daley is coaching the team, and you’re not there. And he’s a much better player than John Stockton, no question about it.”
In the end, Thomas’ absence didn’t mean any major problem for the Dream Team. They won every game they played in Barcelona, getting the gold medal and writing one of the best stories in basketball history. Thomas was never able to live that and he stated that is the only thing he couldn’t achieve in his career.
Now he’s known as the guy who doesn’t believe Michael Jordan is the GOAT by a lot of fans and the one that missed a big chance in his career thanks to his antics on the court.
