No one would vehemently react and express his objection over Isiah Thomas 's exclusion from the 1992 Dream Team more than Chuck Daly .
Right between the eyes, Daly can proudly vouch for why Zeke deserved a spot within the legendary Olympic squad. Thomas is one of the greatest players of all time and the second-best point guard of his generation, only behind Magic Johnson. As the head coach of the Detroit Pistons, Chuck fully witnessed how Thomas steered the ‘Bad Boys' from their humble beginnings into supremacy by winning back-to-back championships.
When the star-studded list was finally released in 1991, all Daly could do was wonder how the national program concluded to make Isiah an odd man out of the initial 10-man pool. For him, it was a massive disrespect, considering that the Pistons star should've even exceeded the criteria in representing the Americans in Barcelona.
“I’m disappointed because Isiah is a great player and deserves to be on the team,” Daly confessed . “If I had my druthers, I would have had three of my players – Isiah, Joe Dumars and Dennis Rodman – on the team, but I didn’t have a vote and all those chosen are great players in their own right.”
An all-time snubbing
The omission of Thomas from the Dream Team has been a major topic of basketball discourse in all eras. As such, his absence in the Americans' best of the best has been well represented by two clashing ideas: although widely recognized as a legendary player, he still carried that polarizing reputation stemming from his leadership of the Pistons' brutal play style.
But more than the contentious impression he yields from everyone's viewpoint, we can simply acknowledge Michael Jordan as the obvious reason why Zeke came up short of making it to the cut. From the writings of Jack McCallum’s Dream Team book to Charles Barkley's candid admittance , they pinpointed MJ as the driving force that disregarded Thomas’ case to be included in the 1992 United States team.
As it is, Michael forged a lifelong animosity against Isiah. He despised the way Zeke treated him poorly since the beginning, from making him look miserable in the 1985 All-Star Game, instructing the ‘Bad Boys’ to beat the hell out of him with their ‘Jordan Rules,’ and that infamous walk-off in the aftermath of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, His Airness wanted no business with Isiah within the group as his teammate.
Related: "I just don't see how you would get equal value" - Michael Jordan believed the Bulls could never get anybody as valuable as Scottie Pippen
A major ‘What-If’ for Daly
In the end, Daly had no choice. Despite his disappointment over Zeke's nonexistence within the iconic squad, he still fulfilled the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity of coaching the greatest team assembled. In the summer of 1992, he and the Dream Team conquered the men's basketball in Barcelona to give the United States the Olympic gold medal.
When he was still alive, Daly might've regretted how he failed to strongly protest the snubbing towards Thomas, considering how things have gone through in the eventual legacy of the Dream Team and how it could have further glittered his legacy as one of basketball’s greats. But at the end of the day, this situation has been as messy as it has ever been, and Chuck has no control over working things out of Zeke's favor.
Related: Chris Paul on being a huge fan of Isiah Thomas early in his career: "Isaiah was one of those players who went out every night to win"
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