Over the years, it has become common knowledge in the sport that Michael Jordan was allegedly one of the NBA superstars who influenced the Team USA committee to exclude Isiah Thomas from the Dream Team. There was no proof to support that theory but Zeke didn't need one to know that there was an impactful figure who did not want him on the historic squad.
According to Thomas, things have always been unfair for him back then for some reason and the Dream Team selection process was no different. With that in mind, Isiah suggests that his Dream Team snub wasn't technical but more of a decision made by someone who had a say on such matters.
" The rules always changed for me. They wanted people who had won championships. At that time, there were only two people on that team that had won more championships than myself ," Thomas said on an older ESPN Classic documentary.
" I've been around sports long enough to know that there's a committee that selects, and then there's another group of people in the backroom that selects ," he pointed out.
Daly would've included Isiah on the team
In 1992, Zeke and the Detroit Pistons were the last team to win an NBA championship before Jordan and the Chicago Bulls completed their first back-to-back titles. On top of that, Thomas certainly has already cemented his future Hall of Fame status at the time Team USA decided to muster the Dream Team.
All told, Pistons and USA's head coach Chuck Daly also couldn't fathom why one of the best, if not the best, point guard in the league wasn't on his Olympic group.
" I'm disappointed because Isiah is a great player and deserves to be on the team ," Daly once 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 ."
The snub still stings
Isiah was known for his exceptional skills on the court, his leadership, and his fierce competitiveness. However, despite his impressive career, Thomas has openly shared the lingering pain of being left off the iconic Dream Team that represented the United States on the Olympic stage.
In fact, Zeke even once confided that " the only thing missing from my resume is not being on the Dream Team ." For Thomas, he still feels the emotional weight it carries even decades later.
Related: "Isiah wasn't even going to be the first substitute" - The Dream Team almost replaced Stockton but not with Thomas
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