Move over, Jerry Krause, the general public would now like to run the underwear of Isiah Thomas up a flagpole. Thank you for your services.
Michael Jordan has hated Isiah Thomas for 30 years and now he’s successfully made everyone else hate him too.
During episodes 3 and 4 of The Last Dance, Jordan makes it clear that he never forgave Isiah and the rest of the Bad Boy Pistons for not shaking hands after the Bulls beat the Pistons in a 1991 playoff series sweep.
Thomas revealed in the doc that when Detroit beat Boston in a playoff series, Larry Bird’s didn’t shake hands with the Pistons, so he figured it was fine to walk off the floor without congratulating the Bulls.
It wasn’t. And it still isn’t. Jordan called Thomas an “asshole” for his logic, noting that he fought through the agony of defeat to congratulate the Pistons after beating them twice before.
It appears that the resentment goes both ways. During Thomas’ appearance this morning on Get Up, the two-time NBA champion revealed that the glorification in the documentary of the Bulls lifting weights wasn’t anything to be celebrated.
Thomas eventually apologized for not shaking the Bulls’ hands after defeat. But not to Jordan and company, but to Jalen Rose and Chris Webber??
Thomas is obviously still harboring hard feelings over the handshake snub, and I would be too if I were him. In his book, When the Game Was Ours, Magic Johnson claims that he, Jordan and other players conspired to keep Thomas off the original Dream Team in 1992, even though Thomas was easily good enough to make the roster.
Thomas said Monday that he is still “hurt” by being left off the roster, and that it is a glaring void in his resume.
Bonus clip: Isiah Thomas wants you to know that MJ wasn’t the only one getting roughed up by the physical style of play in the 90s and he has the scars to prove it.
Amazing how it’s been 30 years since Isiah didn’t shake MJ’s hand and Jordan still despises him for it.