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Move over, Jerry Krause, the general public would now like to run the underwear of Isiah Thomas up a flagpole. Thank you for your services.
Michael Jordan has hated Isiah Thomas for 30 years and now he’s successfully made everyone else hate him too.
During episodes 3 and 4 of The Last Dance, Jordan makes it clear that he never forgave Isiah and the rest of the Bad Boy Pistons for not shaking hands after the Bulls beat the Pistons in a 1991 playoff series sweep.
Thomas revealed in the doc that when Detroit beat Boston in a playoff series, Larry Bird’s didn’t shake hands with the Pistons, so he figured it was fine to walk off the floor without congratulating the Bulls.
It wasn’t. And it still isn’t. Jordan called Thomas an “asshole” for his logic, noting that he fought through the agony of defeat to congratulate the Pistons after beating them twice before.
It appears that the resentment goes both ways. During Thomas’ appearance this morning on Get Up, the two-time NBA champion revealed that the glorification in the documentary of the Bulls lifting weights wasn’t anything to be celebrated.
"You shouldn't be rewarded for lifting weights."
—Isiah Thomas on the Chicago Bulls path to a championship pic.twitter.com/5Bb18ja1Cr
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 27, 2020
Thomas eventually apologized for not shaking the Bulls’ hands after defeat. But not to Jordan and company, but to Jalen Rose and Chris Webber??
Isiah Thomas apologizes to Detroit community and stars that came from the region, like Jalen Rose, for the bad perception the #Pistons 1991 walk-off created 👀 pic.twitter.com/ld8Pw0xhry
— Awful Announcing (@awfulannouncing) April 27, 2020
Thomas is obviously still harboring hard feelings over the handshake snub, and I would be too if I were him. In his book, When the Game Was Ours, Magic Johnson claims that he, Jordan and other players conspired to keep Thomas off the original Dream Team in 1992, even though Thomas was easily good enough to make the roster.
Thomas said Monday that he is still “hurt” by being left off the roster, and that it is a glaring void in his resume.
"Looking back, if I'm not a part of the Dream Team because a lapse in emotion in terms of not shaking someone's hand … then I am more disappointed today than I was back then."
Isiah Thomas is still "hurt" that he was left off the Dream Team. pic.twitter.com/YkRt8zIY09
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 27, 2020
Bonus clip: Isiah Thomas wants you to know that MJ wasn’t the only one getting roughed up by the physical style of play in the 90s and he has the scars to prove it.
"This generation thinks that the only one who was getting hit back then was Jordan."
—Isiah Thomas on the physicality of the NBA pic.twitter.com/tPDEFV96jz
— Get Up (@GetUpESPN) April 27, 2020
Amazing how it’s been 30 years since Isiah didn’t shake MJ’s hand and Jordan still despises him for it.