Rockets’ Kevin McHale: Isiah Thomas blacklisted off Dream Team

Jordan’s dislike for Isiah

But the biggest Isiah detractor was Michael Jordan, who essentially ran the league during his reign as the top player in the league. Make no mistake, Jordan was going to get whatever he wanted, which came at Isiah’s expense in this case.

Jordan once famously didn’t want to conduct an interview about the Olympics if Isiah’s name was going to come up and he didn’t want to play on the Dream Team if Isiah was going to be on the team.

Part of this is that Jordan was still bothered by Zeke’s infamous walk-off in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals, which was still fresh in his mind during the 1992 Olympics. In fact, it’s still fresh in his mind now, as Jordan couldn’t hide his resentment towards Isiah and the Pistons during The Last Dance.

Jordan stated that he still hates them now, which the former Houston Rockets coach couldn’t help but chime in on.

“I laughed when Michael said he still hates them. I was like man. It’s interesting to me that all those years later, there’s still so much animosity between Mike and Isiah. That really goes to show what those series’ meant.”

It should come as no surprise that Jordan has carried his grudge against Isiah over the course of all these years, because he’s done the exact same thing with Charles Barkley of late.

But black-listed or not, Jordan is the ultimate reason why Isiah wasn’t on the Dream Team, and he certainly would have a much different response to the Olympic snub than the former Houston Rockets coach.