Isiah Thomas became the biggest enemy for the Chicago Bulls in the late 80s and early 90s. His Detroit Pistons prevented Michael Jordan, Scottie Pippen and co. from reaching the NBA Finals, using a rough style of play that earned them a lot of criticism.
The ‘Bad Boy’ Detroit Pistons embraced their roles of villains, not paying attention to who liked them or not until it was time for the 1992 Summer Olympics. USA Basketball would send a star-studded squad to Barcelona to defend the country. The roster included big names like Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Charles Barkley, and Scottie Pippen, among others.
Isiah Thomas was snubbed, with most people crediting his absence to his antics during the Bad Boys’ run in the league. This was displayed last year in the award-winning docu-series The Last Dance, where Michael Jordan and Scottie Pippen explained their animosity towards Thomas and everything the Pistons meant.
In his newly published book, ‘Unguarded,’ Pippen talked about that moment and how Zeke tried to reach out to him to make amends. The small forward didn’t even like that idea and instantly shut it down.
Via Sports Casting:
“In the spring of 2020, while the doc was being aired, Isiah was interested in the two of us declaring a truce,” Pippen wrote. “He reached out to B. J. Armstrong, who called me: ‘Would you be willing to talk to him?’ B.J. asked. Dude, are you kidding me? When I came into the league, he was never nice to me. Why would I want to meet with him now? Isiah is no fool. He knows better than anyone else how poorly he came across in The Last Dance, and with good reason. I wasn’t about to make it easier for him.”
Pippen talked about that part of the book with the New York Times, stating he didn’t need to make things right with somebody he wouldn’t see that often.
Scottie has turned against everybody recently, taking shots at Michael Jordan, Phil Jackson, John Paxson, Charles Barkley, and more people during the last couple of months. He’s not afraid of speaking his mind anymore, no matter who gets offended by his comments.
If he acted this way with his former teammates, nobody should think he’ll act differently with old enemies.
