Basketball Scandals, Chicago Bulls, Detroit Pistons, NBA

Isiah vs. Jordan Feud: Irony gives Thomas last word in decades-long beef with Michael Jordan (video)

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As you probably know by now, Michael Jordan lied. about his involvement in Isiah Thomas being off the 1992 Dream Team.

For decades Jordan danced around the topic. At times, Jordan chose to prompt interviewers not to ask about Isiah, denied his involvement several times, and talked around the omission. Without any evidence, it remained speculation for nearly 30 years.

Not until Jack McCallum’s best-selling DREAM TEAM book came out in 2012 that those interested in what really happened had some proof. In his book, McCallum reported that Jordan gave the selection committee an ultimatum between he and Isiah. Even then, it didn’t permeate the conversations around the topic. Time moved on and the rumor was still a mystery to the vast majority of the public. With Jordan’s brand and reach, the 1991 omission took on a life of it’s own.

Video of us discussing the real reasons Isiah was left off the Dream Team 

In early May, McCallum announced his The Dream Team Tapes podcast that would feature damning evidence against Jordan: presenting the actual audio clip of Jordan saying exactly what he’s denied in the past. Jordan’s actual voice behind the attributed quote found in McCallum’s book from eight years before:

“I don’t want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team” 

This audio is the latest development in Michael Jordan and Isiah Thomas’ complicated relationship. In this article we’re going to deep dive into how the beef between the two NBA superstars began and look into each major milestone in their back and forth over the years.

A Timeline of Jordan-Isiah Feud

When Michael Jordan forced the Olympic Selection Committee to make a decision between he and Isiah Thomas, the snub heard around the world may have been the biggest blow in the Isiah-Jordan feud, but there were several events that led up to that unconscionable ultimatum. We’ve highlighted the ten biggest milestones in the MJ Zeke beef and will dig into the facts behind each.

  1. 1984: The first meeting
  2. Infamous NBA-All-Star Freeze out (1985)
  3. Jordan scores career-high 49 over Pistons (1986)
  4. Another career night for Jordan vs. the Pistons (1987)
  5. Detroit Pistons eliminate Chicago Bulls 4-1 in East Semis (1988) 
  6. Detroit Pistons eliminate Chicago Bulls 4-2 in ECF (1989)
  7. Detroit Pistons eliminate Chicago Bulls 4-3 in ECF (1990)
  8. Chicago Bulls sweep Detroit Pistons 4-0 in ECF (1991)
  9. The Walkout (1991)
  10. The ultimatum that leads to Isiah’s omission (1991)
  11. DREAM TEAM book released (2012)
  12. The receipts (2020)
  13. The last word

For the most part, this was mostly one-sided rivalry between the two players for the next several NBA seasons – one where Isiah mostly got the better of Jordan. That’s until the 1990’s when Jordan would use his powers to best Thomas, on and off the court.

1984: The first meeting

At the beginning of the 1984-85 season, Isiah Thomas and the rookie Michael Jordan would have their first meeting on November 7,1984 at the Pontiac Silverdome.

Though the Chicago Bulls would come out victorious over the Detroit Pistons 122-118. Isiah would win the personal battle over the rookie Jordan. Isiah lit up the Bulls with 35 points and 10 assists. On the other side, Jordan was plagued by foul trouble in the first half and went scoreless, but he would make up for that by scoring all of his 25 points in that second half.

1985: Infamous NBA-All-Star Freeze out

The first shot fired was Jordan’s first NBA All-Star Game, the controversial 1985 All-Star Game “freeze out.”

Isiah denied it ever happened. Jordan all but believes it. Who is to be believed what truly transpired in the 1985 NBA All-Star game when Isiah apparently colluded with Magic Johnson and George Gervin to not pass the ball to Jordan? (How would Magic and Gervin not pass the ball to Jordan? They played on the Western Conference team)

Here’s what Jordan told Playboy in 1990 as reprinted by Longform.

Jordan: If you go back and look at the film, you can see that Isiah was actually doing that. Once it started getting around that he was freezing me out, that’s when the ill feelings started to grow between us.

Playboy: There were some problems even before the game, weren’t there?

Jordan: That was my first All-Star game. I stayed in my room most of the time because I didn’t know what to do. None of my teammates were there. I didn’t want to be out in a situation that I wasn’t comfortable with. The one time I did go out, I got on an elevator with Isiah Thomas to go downstairs for a league meeting. That was the first time I met him. And I said, “Hello, how ya doin’?” That’s all I said. I was really intimidated because I didn’t know him and I didn’t want to get on his nerves. I didn’t want to seem like a rookie. You know, to just be so stupid. So I was quiet. I stayed in the corner. When I went down in the room for the meeting, I still didn’t say anything. After the weekend was over, it got back to me that I was arrogant and cocky and I wouldn’t even speak to Isiah on the elevator, that I gave him the cold shoulder. And I’m saying Isiah Thomas initiated it all.

The real story may have been hatched when Jordan, who was in the midst of a Nike-NBA controversy, decided to wear his Nike warm ups during workouts. Here s what George Andrews, former agent to Magic and Isiah recalled:

“On Saturday during the workouts, Michael wore his Nike warm ups in violation of the NBA protocol. He was promoting Nike. So the veteran guys got upset, saying, ‘Who the heck is this rookie; he’s not acting the way he should.’ And so on. No question they were mad at him, and it wasn’t just my guys.

Then what happened is Isiah and Magic said, ‘Let’s just guard each other and not really play defense on each other.’ Because if you remember when they were against one another in the All-Star games, they were good games, competitive but entertaining. They knew how to run those types of games with the fast break and passing and still keep it real basketball and exciting.”

“So they say, ‘Let’s see what Michael can do with Gervin,’ who still was pretty good. Michael didn’t do much, something like two for nine. But nine shots;  so he wasn’t frozen out. He got nine shots in an All-Star game as a rookie. Isiah had seven when he was a rookie and shot an air ball.”

Nine shots sounds pretty standard for a rookie. It’s not a surprise that coaches tend to play the veterans during the all-star game. You can judge for yourself in the following clip:

After the announcement of the ten players, Isiah would bring up the freeze out again, saying “I don’t know if Michael’s feelings toward me had anything to do with this,” Thomas said. “Do I believe it? I don’t want to. But this alleged freeze has gotten out of hand, a flat-out lie.”

Whether it happened it or not, Jordan interpreted it as a slight and that ignited a feud over the next several years.

1985: Jordan scores career-high 49 in Bulls victory over Pistons

In hindsight, we’re sure the NBA schedule makers were quite happy to see that after that NBA All-Star break, the first game for the Detroit Pistons and Chicago Bulls were against one another.

Fresh off feeling as if Thomas didn’t pass him the ball enough, the young Jordan went for a then-career-high with 49 points. It feels weird to include any one single game as the Central Division opponents played one another six times during the 1980’s, but this was very clearly Jordan making a point.

As he would tell Playboy magazine years later: “It was a grudge game from my standpoint.” said Jordan “And the next day, the headlines read ‘Jordan Gets His Revenge, Scores 49.'” Jordan’s career high came on an efficient 19 field goals on 31 attempts from the field and added 15 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals in that Bulls overtime win.

1987: Jordan scores 61 vs. the Pistons

Since we’re well aware of Jordan’s ability to hold grudges, we know that he really had it in the for the Isiah Thomas. every time he went up against him.

On March 04, 1987, Michael Jordan just “happened” to establish another regular-season career high in scoring against the Pistons. Jordan poured in an insane 61 points on 22-39 from the field and 17-18 from the free throw line in a 125–120 OT victory.

Coincidence? Nah.

We’re sure it fueled MJ’s fire that the Detroit Pistons were the up-and-coming team in the Eastern Conference and his Bulls were yet to really compete at the level of the Eastern powers the Boston Celtics, Pistons, Atlanta Hawks and Milwaukee Bucks in the 1986-87 NBA season.

By the way, Isiah wasn’t shabby either with 31 points and 18 assists in the loss.

1988-1990: Detroit Pistons > Chicago Bulls

Even as Jordan became the face of the league, his Chicago Bulls struggled through the first several years of his career. When the Bulls began to come together, they were sent out of the playoffs by by a Detroit Pistons team that was already established as contenders and the power of the East.

Though the Pistons would ultimately win over the Bulls, Jordan would more often than not, get his points. In response, the team developed what was called the “Jordan Rules” which forced Jordan to spaces on the floor where he was least ineffective.

And when Jordan was able to get to the rim, the rule then was to hit him before he got into the air, and sometimes hitting him when he was airborne. Those Jordan Rules along with a psychological and physical warfare that the well-rounded Pistons waged on Chicago Bulls. In these three seasons, the Pistons dominated, bullied and beat down the the Bulls in the regular season.

The Pistons won all six of their match ups in 1988-89, and would go 14-3 record across those three seasons. The PIstons also had the Bulls number in the NBA Playoffs where they eliminated Jordan in three consecutive seasons from 1988-1990.

We’re certain that Jordan losing to the Isiah Thomas-led Bad Boys and being sent home in 1988, 1989, and 1990 bruised and battered didn’t sit well with Jordan. Particularly watching the Bad Boys go to three consecutive NBA Finals and winning two NBA championships along the way must have irked Jordan to no end — and fueled him even more.

1991: Chicago Bulls finally slay the Bad Boys

The Bad Boys played an integral part in the Chicago Bull’s growth and development as a championship team. Just as the Boston Celtics were the Piston’s foil years before.

At the beginning of the 1990-91 season, the Detroit Pistons were getting older and showing the wear from four straight years of deep playoff drives. At this point Bill Laimbeer (32), Vinnie Johnson (34), and James Edwards (34) were aging. They lost the heart of their team, Rick Mahorn, the previous year to the expansion draft.

The Pistons were still a very good team that season and managed a 50-32 record, but it was clear the team was losing steam (and motivation) as championship teams tend to do after years on top. On top of that, Isiah played just 48 games that season with a wrist injury.

It’s no coincidence that there there aren’t very many dynasties in NBA history.

At 27 years old, Jordan was in his prime. He led the Bulls to a then-franchise record 61-21, winning another scoring title and his second MVP award. They would finally get the season series against the Pistons; winning three out of the five games when they met.

Jordan was primed, experienced and hungry. He now was supported by a cast built around his unique talents. Chicago would tear through the first two rounds, sweeping the Knicks and ousting the Philadelphia 76ers in five games. The Pistons barely got out of the first round with Atlanta and it took them six games to move on from a Celtics team that still had Larry Bird and Kevin McHale, but who were years away from their previous glory.

The two teams would meet up in the Eastern Conference Finals again. Though the Pistons put up a fight, the Bulls were the better team as they took both games in Chicago and the first in Detroit. Being up 3-0 on the Pistons, Jordan relished the position and sought to put salt in the wounds of the team that had stood in his way so many years..

“The Pistons are undeserving champions,” Jordan said on the day before Game 4 in Detroit. “The Bad Boys are bad for basketball.”

The Pistons were motivated by this comment, but they still lost. Jordan and the Bulls would go on and sweep their nemeses in convincing fashion. It’s safe to say that no one was enjoying this more than Jordan. He relished being the one to put an end to the Bad Boys from Detroit.

And one-up Isiah Thomas in their ongoing beef.

The Walkout

Unfortunately, the joy Jordan and the Bulls were feeling in finally overcoming the Pistons would only last for a a couple fleeting moments. The game was in-hand and all that was left was for the clock to hit zero; the Detroit veterans knew it was their time. It was an end of an era for that proud Pistons team.

Instead of bowing out gracefully and letting things happen naturally, Laimbeer told the players that they were going to walk off the court without acknowledging the Bulls.

As the game wound down, the Detroit Pistons began walking off the floor. However, in order to get to their locker room, they would have to walk past the visitors’ bench and that image of Laimbeer and Thomas walking by the Bulls bench as Jordan and the Bulls awkwardly stood watching was the next slight in the Thomas-Jordan feud. One that would have consequences for both players.

Some argued that’s just how teams handled things in that era. This is what Kevin McHale recently told The Boston Herald in regards to the close out handshakes, congratulations, etc. during the 1980’s.

“I’m going to tell you this: of all the series that I played in all through the ’80s, after a close-out game, unless you were walking with somebody you knew, you almost never said anything. You might congratulate them if you saw them later, but there wasn’t a lot of talk, I mean, congratulatory or (expletive)-talking or anything,” McHale said. “You just kind of went in the locker room. Ninety percent of the series we won, I didn’t talk to anybody. They didn’t come up to me, and I didn’t think they should.”

McHale said that when he and Isiah shared a handshake, its because they were friends.

“I knew Isiah from the Pan-Am Games, and Zeke and I have always been friends,” said McHale. “He said something to me, and I said, ‘Hey, man, look, it feels just as bad to lose in The Finals as it does to lose in the Eastern Conference finals.’ I said, ‘This (expletive)’s not over with. You guys got another series to play, so don’t celebrate too much.’ I said that, then I walked off. That was just my advice to him as a friend.”

That’s not a fair comparison though. The Celtics were leaving the court not out of spite, but for the safety of their  players. The Pistons planned to overtly snub the Bulls. It would have been one thing had the Pistons planned to exit through another tunnel, but the fact that they made it a point to walk off right in front of Jordan (who was clearly taken aback and had his arms crossed), Pippen and the Chicago bench, that’s where it crossed the line.

The walkout looked bad. It was bad. The Pistons owned (and earned) the Bad Boys moniker, and the media outside of Detroit hated their style of play. The walk out was another reason for the media to justify their hatred for the Pistons.

My personal opinion is that it was in really poor taste on Thomas’ part. We expect that from Laimbeer or Dennis Rodman, but as the leader of the Pistons, Isiah Thomas should have graciously passed the torch. Everyone from Thomas to John Salley said walking off was Laimbeer’s idea, but Isiah went along when he should have shook hands. If he did, I believe Thomas would have been on the Dream Team.

But he didn’t. And he wasn’t.

That’s because Jordan wasn’t going to forget that snub, and he was going to get the last word.

The Dream Team Snub

After the infamous walkout, the Chicago Bulls would advance to the 1991 NBA Finals where they would go on to defeat Magic Johnson and the Los Angeles Lakers in five games. Their first NBA title was the first of what would be six NBA championships.

That year, MJ was named Finals MVP and if anyone believed that he wasn’t the best player in the game prior to that, should turn in their basketball credentials because that was no longer a question.

Jordan was at the height of his power that summer when Rod Thorn came calling. Thorn was part of the US Olympic Selection committee and was tasked to convince Jordan to consider playing in next summer’s Barcelona Olympics. He contacted Jordan’s to take his temperature on it with the hope that he would come out with a “yes” from the league’s best and most-popular player.

The only people that knew what was said on that call were the two people on the phone, Jordan and Thorn. Whatever happened on that call or in the months following, Isiah Thomas wasn’t named in the first ten players for the 1992 Olympic Team.

This was a time when there was no internet. No social media. Even without easily accessible news and content that could be shared wide with a click, Isiah’s exclusion from that list went viral. It was a complete shock, a head scratcher, a shame, a disgrace, and committee members resigned over it.

Even on the NBC Selection Show that announced the first ten players, host Bob Costas interviewed Isiah prior to the show to get his opinion on his exclusion, but it was never made the air.

Anyone that followed the NBA knew there had to be something more going on than simply not choosing Isiah for the team. Everyone assumed it was retaliation by Michael Jordan and that’s essentially all we had for nearly 30 years — assumptions, anonymous sources and rumors. And all along, Jordan denied his role in Isiah not being named to the team.

Jack McCallum brings the (audio) receipts

As was referenced earlier, Jack McCallum’s 2012 DREAM TEAM book quoted Jordan saying he wouldn’t play on the team if Isiah Thomas was on the team. For whatever reasons, that quote never caught on or circulated wide. And for the eight years since the book was released, Jordan keeping Isiah off the Dream Team was still widely-considered a rumor.

During that time, Jordan played into those rumors by  denying he had a hand in any of that controversy. Most recently on The Last Dance, Jordan stated that he never mentioned Isiah’s name to Rod Thorn in that now infamous phone call.

So it seemed as if Jordan’s version was being spoken into truth. Even after the episode, a couple weeks passed without much shift on that decades-long rumor

That’s until McCallum announced in early May that he was releasing select audio that he accumulated from his time researching his book. And in those stacks of audio tapes interview was Jordan confirming exactly what he has denied for so many years.

We’ve transcribed what Jordan relayed to McCallum in a recollection of his phone call with Rod Thorn. Here it is for you here in large, bold text:

“I don’t want to play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.”

There you have it, from Jordan’s actual mouth to your ears. The man didn’t want Isiah on the team and told Rod Thorn that in his initial call. All the dominoes fell from there.

However, if you happen to be Max Kellerman or Skip Bayless and still think there’s “plausible deniability” even though there’s actual audio proof of Jordan admitting to it, episode 6 of The Dream Team Tapes exposes Jordan’s clear involvement further.

Approximately 13 minutes into that podcast episode, McCallum discusses John Stockton‘s injury and the fact that Chuck Daly wanted to replace him on the roster.

As the staff discussed whom to potentially replace Stockton with, the “spectre of Isiah Thomas” came up again. McCallum narrated this couple minutes by saying that Jordan was watching the potential point guard replacement “with interest and some degree of angst.”

As Daly, Matt Dobek and PJ Carlesimo went to dinner to discuss whether to add a point guard onto the team. The next thing you hear is Jordan’s voice giving the listeners what was going through his mind at the time:

“When Stockton broke his leg, Now I’m already committed.” Jordan told McCallum. “I’m thinking ‘oh shit y’know I got tricked into this thing and next thing you now Isiah’s going to be on the team'”. 

The team ultimately decided not to replace Stockton. We can speculate the reasons there, but the prevailing thought would have to be that replacing him with Isiah could have caused problems with the “team”. When we say “team”, we obviously mean Jordan — the best player on a team whose mission was to bring back the gold medal in the Olympics.

It wouldn’t be wise to anger Jordan at this juncture. This is how strong Jordan’s influence was even when the team was already in Barcelona.

To add salt to Isiah’s wound, Joe Dumars was the rumored replacement had the staff gone that direction. Selecting to bring in Dumars, Isiah’s back court partner in Detroit, would have all but confirmed the controversy, re-ignited more drama, and negative press.

The staff considered the blow back and decided it was better to keep the roster as it was. Not for basketball reasons, but for political ones.

Jordan’s last word becomes Isiah’s retribution

For nearly thirty years, Jordan had the last word in the back-and-forth feud with Isiah. For those thirty years, Jordan savored having the final word with his lifelong rival, but with the release of the audio tapes, Thomas finally gets his retribution.

The great thing for Thomas is that he didn’t have to say that he hasn’t already said in the past.

Ironically, Isiah’s last word came in the form of Jordan’s own admission.

Savvy with the media as always, Jordan hasn’t responded to the audio tapes. Even if he did, Jordan’s reputation won’t suffer much from this. By most everyone’s measure (mine included), he is the NBA’s greatest player of all-time.

That said, we hope the information we collected can be used to permeate the speculation and that the truth can be finally told: Isiah Thomas deserved to be on the 1992 U.S. Olympic Basketball Team, but was kept off the roster because Michael Jordan gave the Olympic Selection Committee an offer they couldn’t refuse.

The rest is history.

(If you want to hear more, check out the following video of us chronicling the entire saga)

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