The long feud between Hall of Famers Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas is still going. Mainly because Thomas won’t let it die.
In an appearance on “The Draymond Green Show,” Thomas feigned surprise in learning that Michael Jordan didn’t like him after watching “The Last Dance” documentary.
“The Last Dance” documentary was critical of Thomas and the Detroit Pistons, specifically criticizing them for walking off the court early when the Chicago Bulls swept them on the way to their first NBA title in 1991. Jordan was blunt regarding his feelings about Thomas.
“There’s no way,” Jordan said, “You can convince me he wasn’t an a–hole.”
But it’s nothing new. Thomas allegedly instigated a plan to “freeze out” Jordan in his first All-Star Game in 1985. Thomas denied it, but it’s been reported for decades that Jordan resented Thomas since he heard the rumors. Thomas and Jordan also had friction because Jordan starred in Thomas’ hometown of Chicago, and there was more bitterness due to the Pistons’ strategy of roughing up Jordan in the playoffs.
It’s also disingenuous because back in 2009, Thomas pretended to be shocked that his former friend Magic Johnson didn’t want him on the 1992 Olympic team.
“I’m glad that he’s finally had the nerve and courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take all the blame,” Thomas told SI.com.
But if Thomas believed for years that Jordan’s dislike kept him off the Dream Team, then why was he surprised when “The Last Dance” confirmed that dislike in 2020?
Johnson claimed that after his HIV-positive diagnosis, Thomas spread rumors that Johnson was gay or bisexual. “Isiah kept questioning people about it. …The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach,” Johnson wrote in the 2009 book “When The Game Was Ours.”
After “The Last Dance,” Jordan has rarely made public statements. He even sold off his share of the Charlotte Hornets last year. The only reason anyone is talking about his relationship with Thomas is that Thomas keeps talking about it — and not in a believable way either.
Thomas later demanded an apology “on international television” from Jordan, but it doesn’t sound like Jordan said anything he didn’t mean in “The Last Dance.” Instead, Thomas is reaping the consequences of his behavior from back in his playing days, and he’s still trying to explain it away. It’s also easier to talk about his anger with Jordan than his failures with the CBA, his failures with the New York Knicks or his failures as a college coach.
That international apology is never going to come, but don’t expect Thomas to start talking about Jordan anyway.