“There was never anything in my conversation with him that had to do with Isiah Thomas.”
– Rod Thorn (‘92 Dream Team selection committee member) on his conversation with Michael Jordan about joining the Olympic Team. pic.twitter.com/MFSFOkMo99
— Golic and Wingo (@GolicAndWingo) April 29, 2020
“There was never anything in my conversation with (Jordan) that had to do with Isiah Thomas, period,” Thorn said Wednesday during an interview with ESPN’s Golic & Wingo. “He said, ‘I’ll do it.’ … Isiah’s name never came up during that conversation. And he never backtracked and said he didn’t want to do it from that time on, to those of us in the NBA office.
“Now, if that in fact happened, then it happened with somebody else; because when I talked to him, he ended up saying he would definitely do it.”
“My conversation with Michael was strictly about Michael, about Michael playing,” Thorn said. “Obviously the committee was hopeful that Michael would play, because he was the No. 1 player in the league at that time and the No. 1 player in the world and the most popular player in the world at that time.
“But he didn’t say anything to me about (Thomas), and I certainly had no reason to bring it up either.”
Thorn was asked why Thomas was not on the roster, assuming Jordan had no input.
“That’s a good question, because Isiah was a great player, a fantastic player,” Thorn said. “There was some controversy with the Pistons regarding not shaking hands with the Bulls — there was some bad blood, obviously, there. … But when we ended up going with the first 10 guys, he did not end up making the team.”
Thomas wasn’t well liked by any of his peers.
It wasn’t only MJ who wasn’t a fan.
Want More From Sports Gossip?
For all the latest breaking Sports Gossip, be sure to follow SportsGossip.com on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.
