[McDunkin]

Plenty of hype has been built around the Dream Team doc airing on NBATV tomorrow night (9pm EST), and rightfully so. One of the more under-played aspects of the program to this point, however, is the criticism of Isiah Thomas – who was famously left off the team – by some of the Dream Teamers.

 Per the NY Post: “In a sneak preview shown at The NBA Finals for media Monday night, Michael Jordan reveals one of the ‘stipulations’ for him joining the Dream Team was having his Pistons rival not included but claimed the sentiment also came from the top. It has been long speculated Jordan kept Thomas off the club but the documentary reveals the snub ran deeper than just MJ. Jordan’s Bulls teammate, Scottie Pippen, also said he didn’t want Thomas on the club. ‘I despised how he played the game,’ Pippen said of Thomas. Pippen charged that Thomas spearheaded Detroit’s ‘Bad Boys’ and incited the rough play. ‘Isiah was the general,’ Pippen said. ‘He was the guy who would yap at his teammates and say ‘Kick them on their ass. Do whatever you have to do.’ No, I didn’t want him on the Dream Team.’ When asked if Jordan wanted Thomas on the 1992 Olympic club at the Barcelona Olympics, Pippen said, ‘I can’t speak for Michael but I don’t think he wanted him on the team.’ Jordan said in his interview that he was reluctant to join the Dream Team because he had a bad first Olympic experience as part of the college group and treasured his offseason. But he came around after Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Patrick Ewing, Charles Barkley, Chris Mullin, David Robinson, among others, were all in.

‘That was one of the stipulations put to me that Isiah wasn’t part of the team,’ Jordan said. ‘I was getting strong innuendos it wasn’t just…it was coming from a higher place who didn’t want Isiah on the team.’ Former NBA deputy commissioner Russ Granik said Thomas was not considered because of the incident at the end of the recent Bulls-Pistons playoff series in which he had his teammates bolt the court before the final buzzer. It was seen as a lack of sportsmanship.

‘We were picking a group just after the Pistons had been eliminated by the Bulls,’ Granik said. ‘It was very bad timing for Isiah. Everyone had that impression in their mind, the picture of Isiah walking off the court.’ Rod Thorn, part of the Olympic selection committee and who drafted Jordan, said, ‘When the Pistons walked off the court before the final bell, it left a lot of bad taste in a lot of people’s minds.’ NBA TV officials said Monday a strong effort was made to get Thomas to participate in the documentary to give his side but he declined.”

 

http://www.slamonline.com/online/nba/2012/06/isiah-thomas-heavily-criticized-in-dream-team-documentary/

[FUNKYBUNCHParticipant]

 Isiah was left out… rough play wasn’t all Isiah either. Pistons were "bad boys" and Bill Laimbeer was the dirtiest one of them all! Pippen and Jordan just wanted to send a message- which they could. The guys just played with a love/hate back then. It was just more rough. Also, Hakeem Olajuwon’s injury wasn’t the best timing either. He was slightly more established making it to a finals before even then-then the great Patrick Ewing and the young David Robinson. And Shaq would have been a better college prospect choice then Laettner, even with an over crowded C position. Everyone knew he was the top pick that year. Still the best group of players on 1 team ever though. I don’t think that will ever be repeated. The Dream Team dominated- can’t wait to watch what we didn’t see before. Can’t believe it’s been 20 years!

[mikeyvthedonParticipant]

Chuck Daly was the head coach and his PG was not on the team. Magic and Larry could play together, Michael was cool with everyone, but no Isiah. Isiah absolutely COULD have made this team, he was a phenomenal player, but I think Michael Jordan was a little more important to the phenom that was the Dream Team than his apparent arch-nemesis. Those guys have had bad blood forever, check MJ’s HOF speech, lol. Isiah almost played on the 1994 World Championship team, but his ruptured achilles kept him out. Sure Isiah is pissed to this day about being left off of the Dream Team, seemed to have ticked off all of the right people to make it happen.

[sheltwon3Participant]

Magic already admitted it was him that was the reason why Isiah did not get added to the dream team.  The fact that other players did not want him added just goes to show it was more than just one player.

[JoeWolf1]

 Isiah Thomas also threw Magic under the bus when he announced he had HIV.  Thomas was alleging he always though Magic was gay and really just talking shit on him for no reason.

He was a great player, but not a very liked person among his peers.

[HaleParticipant]

I read in a Magic-Bird book that Magic and Jordan didn’t want Thomas on the team (for how Thomas acted in the freezeout game and in Magic’s HIV situation) so he that’s why he wasn’t on it..

[NJHooper95Participant]

This was not reality tv. Who cares about like? It was about the best basketball players in the NBA forming to make one great team and at that time Isiah was one of the best. In 1992, Isiah had the same amount of titles as MJ did. Isiah was clearly a better player than stockton at that time. Michael Jordan spearheaded the omition of Isiah and others followed by players who feared Mike or were his flunkies( Scottie Pippen). Michael forced the committee hand and of course you want Michael over Isiah, but it was unfair. This stuff about who liked Isiah is woman’s talk, why does it matter who likes who?

Isiah had earned the right to represent the U.S, nobody was giving him anything, he earned it. And for a player to be able to keep you away from something you earned is not right. Kobe hated Shaq, but they played to win, its not about like. The celtics are not too fond of Rondo especially Ray Allen but they play to win. I know Mike is the greatest but he pull a b**** move and the reality of it is that Dream Team would have still took gold without Mike but thats another story. If we are going to start choosing teams by players we Like then Lebron may never make another all-star game, let alone an olympic team. Im sure all of Mike teammates didnt like him, ask Steve Kerr.  No matter how you slice it, it was b**** move, whenever you talking about ommiting maybe the greatest little man to ever play the game in Zeke.

 

[Cavaliers420Participant]

 It matters for two reasons, one was that they had to make a decision because Isiah was going to be a part of the Dream Team, Jordan did not want to participate. Who would you rather have on your team Jordan or Isiah? Also not going to throw in the fact that it usually takes a team working on all levels to do what the dream team did and had Isiah been there I don’t know if that would have been possible. No disrespect to Isiah but can’t change the past or perceptions from other players.

[JoeWolf1]

 You have to be able to get along with people, Thomas struggled with the same thing as he drove the Knicks from a prominant francise to a bottom dweller.  Scandal, treating people poorly, bone head moves, it was all there.  Many people can have great success and are assholes (MJ) but you have to be smart about how you treat others or you’re going to miss out on opportunities.  Being a poor sportsman and calling the best point guard to ever play the game "Gay" to the media after he was brave enough to go public with his HIV is not going to get many friends.

They didn’t need him, they were good enough to dominate.  Why add drama to the mix?  We all have that friend, who we may like, but at times we just don’t want him around talking shit, being an asshole, and talking behind your back.  I feel thats where Thomas fit in with that group of player.  No denying he was one of the best, but you have to be able to get along with people, whether your a janitor or and NBA All-Star.  

[NJHooper95Participant]

First off I already stated, if its between Isiah and Jordan, Jordan is the obvious choice, Secondly you do not have to like a player for you guys to have chemistry on the court and succedd (Shaq and Kobe) My last point is that the Dream was going to win anyway with or without Mike or Isiah. When the dream team was assembled there very, very, few intentional players in the NBA, If im not mistaking there were less than 20 actually playing in league in 92 and maybe two or three were stars such as Drazen Petrovic. Its not like today where you had Yao, Dirk, Parker, the list goes on and on. Those intentional players were overmatched and inferior as far as basketball talent was concern in 92.

[NJHooper95Participant]

 Isiah was not a saint, not by any means. Im saying that if you were trying to assemble the best basketball players in league then Isiah should have been on there. You dont play a sport to be liked, you play to win and dominate and along the way you make some friends fine, and if not then fine. Isiah was wrong for some of his actions and comments, but they were not recruiting future Popes, they were the recruiting the best  basketball talent available and Thomas was one of them.

[ChewyParticipant]

No Isiah= USA Gold Medal

No Jordan= USA Gold Medal

The US was winning either way and they would blow out each team along the way.

Look, if one guy doesn’t want you, he may be a jerk

If two guys don’t want you, they may be gossiping sissys

If 3 or more players AND the managment dont want you, your an @$$hole

Isiah Thomas didn’t get screwed, He screwed himself with his own actions

[JoeWolf1]

 I think they did approach it with some level of caution, though.  I can’t say for certain, but this was the first time for assembling a group of pro players to play in the Olympics and represent the USA.  This isn’t the All-Star game in Pheonix or LA, you have U.S.A. accross your chest.

If this was a failed experiment it would not just make the NBA look bad, but the USA too.  If there’s gonna be drama, why not error on the side of caution?

[IndianaBasketballParticipant]

What I take from this was Isiah was one nasty MF.

[basagliaParticipant]

 There is absolutely no proof that Isiah started rumors that Magic was gay after the announcement. None. Just as there is no proof Isiah FROZE Jordan out…and there’s a damn tape of that. But, do you care? No! People get to say what they want about Isiah just because…facts do not matter.

People didn’t start thinking Magic was gay because of Isiah Thomas. People thought it because female-to-male contraction is the lowest contraction rate BY FAR. BY FAR.  So, yeah…people had questions. It didn’t take Isiah saying a thing. 

[JoeWolf1]

Not lying. It’s in Magic Johnson’s book, of course Zeke isn’t going to come out in 2009 after all his bad press and say “Yeah, I called him gay!”

(NEWSER) – Magic Johnson blames former friend Isiah Thomas for spreading rumors that Johnson was gay after he announced he had HIV in 1991. “Isiah kept questioning people about it,” Magic writes. “I couldn’t believe that. The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach.” Johnson makes the accusations in When The Game Was Ours, a forthcoming book with Larry Bird. Johnson adds that he and others blackballed Thomas from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team.

Thomas denies spreading rumors. “I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” he tells Sports Illustrated. “I didn’t know he felt this way. Magic acted and responded off some really bad information that he got.” Of the Olympic revelation, he says: “I’m glad that he’s finally had the nerve and the courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take the blame for it all these years.”

Blood transfusion is BY FAR the lowest contraction rate, followed by intervenous drug use, followed by female-to-male, followed by male-to-female, with male-to-male being the highest. It was 1992, people didn’t know what they know now, straight people get AIDS, sorry to break it to you.

[WestConfsOverratedParticipant]

This really hilights why Isiah Thomas and the Bad Boys Pistons were so great. Most fans, writers and players hated them, but they didn’t ever care about their image or preception, and people’s hate for them still burns to this day.

The USA would have won the gold with the All USA 3rd or 4th team vs. 1992’s international basketball competition. The Dream Team was more about commercialization and marketing than anything sports related.

It’s as simple as if Isiah Thomas was included on the team, Michael Jordan and plenty of other NBA celebrities would not join, and the NBA was looking to promote the sport and the product around the globe durring the Jordan domination era.

The Pistons old GM resigned from the board of Team USA in protest, and I’m sure Chuck Daly didn’t agree with it either.

Was it an injustice? Of course, but it was all politics as usual.

 

As for the Magic Johnson/Isiah Thomas AIDs rumors contreversey, here’s an exerpt from an old Sports Illustrated article about it:

Magic’s most shocking accusation, however, is that Thomas was responsible for spreading rumors that Johnson was gay or bisexual after Johnson tested positive for HIV, forcing his retirement at age 32. "Isiah kept questioning people about it,” Magic says. "I couldn’t believe that. The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach.”

Thomas vehemently denied that he had gossiped behind Magic’s back, pointing out that he knew better than to engage in such hurtful talk.

"What most people don’t know is, before Magic had HIV, my brother had HIV,” Thomas said. "My brother died of HIV, AIDS, drug abuse. So I knew way more about the disease, because I was living with it in my house.”

His brother,Gregory Thomas, died five years ago, Isiah said.

"Magic acted and responded off some really bad information that he got,” Thomas went on. "Whatever friendship we had, I thought it was bulls— that he believed that. Let me put it to you this way: If he and I were such close friends, if I was questioning his sexuality, then I was questioning mine too. That’s how idiotic it is.”

The book’s main source for this allegation is Magic’s longtime agent,Lon Rosen, who says Thomas told him in 1991, "I keep hearing Magic is gay.”

"C’mon, Isiah, you know Earvin better than anyone,” Rosen replies.

"I know,” Thomas answers, "but I don’t know what he’s doing when he’s out there in L.A.”

On Wednesday, Thomas denied that conversation. "I don’t know Lon like that,” he said, adding that he reached out to Johnson at the time. "I remember calling Magic and saying [of the allegations that he was rumor-mongering], ‘You know that’s some bulls—.’ ”

Magic declined to be interviewed for this story. Rosen, speaking on behalf of his client, said he and Magic stand by everything attributed to them in the book.

Thomas insisted he felt too much sympathy for Magic to be spreading rumors about him.

"I felt awful for him; I felt awful for everybody,” Thomas said. "But I knew enough at that time that he didn’t have to retire. The ‘blood’ thing we do in the NBA — where we stop the game because of blood on somebody’s shirt and all that ceremonious stuff — we’re not stopping HIV/AIDS that way. We still do it out of some insane fear that came about when Karl Malone and everybody was saying they weren’t playing if Magic was playing.”

Instead, Thomas said he helped make it possible for Magic to return in 1992 to the All-Star Game.

"They weren’t going to let Magic play in the All-Star Game; all the players were coming out [against him],” Thomas said. "You know how that all got turned around? I had a meeting with all of the players — because I was president of the players’ association — and I told them not only was he going to play, but we were going to shake his hand and give him a hug. And I was the first to shake his hand and hug him and give him a kiss, to let people know that’s not how the virus is spread.

"And you can go back and check at the players’ association. CallCharlie Grantham[the former union executive director and COO] and ask him how Magic got to play in the All-Star Game. Ask him who called the meeting.”

When the Game Was Ourscredits NBA commissionerDavid Sternwith inviting Johnson to play in the All-Star Game, despite objections from some players and owners. The book does acknowledge, however, that Thomas was the first player to embrace Johnson on the court before the game.

"I don’t discriminate," Thomas said. "I don’t believe any race or ethnic group or social group should be discriminated against, because I have been discrimated against, and I know it would be wrong for me to discriminate.

"I think Magic has been misled on a lot of things, and unfortunately this has been another one of them. I am hurt and disappointed that he has chosen to believe others as opposed to his closest friends. And I think you can go back and look in that era and see who his closest friends were, and who his closest friends are now. At that time, I don’t consider Lon Rosen to be one of his closest friends; he was one of his business advisers making money off him.”

http://sportsillustrated.cnn.com/2009/writers/ian_thomsen/10/22/isiah.magic/index.html

 

[basagliaParticipant]

I asked for PROOF, not old articles.

And Magic says he got HIV from unprotected sex…and female-to-male is BY FAR the lesser.

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