Michael Jordan assured, in the documentary “The Last Dance” tracing his career, that he had not vetoed the presence of Isiah Thomas in the United States team at the 1992 Olympics. An audio document denies his version.
Michael Jordan doesn’t just benefit from Netflix’s documentary “The Last Dance.” The Bulls star has drawn criticism from several of his former teammates such as Horace Grant and Scottie Pippen. He is now accused of lying.
In the documentary, the legendary number 23 assures that he never vetoed the presence of Isiah Thomas in the mythical “Dream Team” of the United States that won the gold medal at the 1992 Olympic Games. The two players didn’t get along (you can even talk about hate) but “MJ” certifies, in episode 4 of The Last Dance, that he never pushed to oust the Legend of Detroit. “You want to attribute that to me, go for it,” he says. But it wasn’t me.”
“I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team”
However, an audio document proves otherwise. In the podcast “The Dream Team Tapes”, sports journalist Jack McCallum aired an excerpt from a conversation he had with Jordan in 2011 while writing a book about the Dream Team. “Rod Thorne (general manager of the Bulls who favored the presence of the BIGGEST stars in the NBA on the team) called me,” Jordan told reporter. I said, ‘Rod, I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.’ He assured me of that. He said, ‘You know what? Chuck (Daly, coach) doesn’t want Isiah. So Isiah won’t be part of the team.”
In the documentary, Thomas’s absence is explained by his cleavageful personality that did not please several players in the group. Rod Thorne denied a few years ago that Jordan played a role. “If it did happen, it happened with someone else (that he did),” he said. He (Jordan) didn’t tell me anything about Thomas and I certainly had no reason to mention him either.”
Isiah Thomas, a two-time NBA winner with Detroit (1989 and 1990) said in “The Last Dance” that his non-participation in the Olympics was “the grayest hole in his resume.”
