Inside the Michael Jordan-Isiah Thomas beef that divided Magic and Bird’s ’92 Dream Team and threatened to derail their Olympics gold medal ambitions

Isiah Thomas deserved to be on the Dream Team.

'Zeke', the second overall pick in the 1981 NBA Draft, was one of the best players of the 1980s and is still widely recognized as one of the greatest point guards in the history of The Association.

The 6ft 1in guard was a member of Chuck Daly's infamous 'Bad Boy' Detroit Pistons - a bruising team of tough enforcers who roughed up Michael Jordan in the playoffs with their no-nonsense 'Jordan Rules' and won two world championships in 1989 and 1990.

Thomas, the 1990 Finals MVP, was the heartbeat and floor general of the Pistons and should have featured on the 12-man Team USA roster that headed to the Barcelona Olympics in 1992.

Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson, Larry Bird, Karl Malone, Charles Barkley, Scottie Pippen, John Stockton, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Clyde Drexler, Chris Mullin, and even college player Christian Laettner, were named to the Dream Team - a squad many deem to be the greatest sports team ever assembled.

Thomas' name was a notable omission.

Many believed MJ had something to do with it, given his frosty relationship with Thomas.

It was a rivalry that stemmed from their heated back-and-forth Eastern Conference playoff match-ups, which got so fiery they forced Jordan to bulk up one summer after taking a 'beating'.

Eventually, MJ overcame the Thomas-led Pistons, but Detroit's decision to leave the court rather than shake hands with the victorious Bulls after the 1991 Eastern Conference finals was a disrespectful act to the basketball GOAT.

But in ESPN's documentary, 'The Last Dance', Jordan insisted he had nothing to do with Thomas failing to make the Dream Team.

“You want to attribute it to me, go ahead and be my guest. But it wasn’t me,” the six-time NBA champion.

It's a stance Jordan has long maintained.

“If I had anything to do with the selection, then I would have picked my brother, my sister, my whole family to take to Barcelona,” Jordan said back in '92.

“I didn’t have anything to do with it. Isiah Thomas and my relationship has nothing to do with me being on this team. I think a lot of things are being blown out of proportion because of him not being selected

"I think it’s being blown out of proportion, and certainly, fingers are being pointed at me because of our relationship and, of course, about the way the end of the game between Detroit and Chicago ended. I don’t think it has anything to do with our relationship. That’s something that really bothers me to a certain extent.”

A taped interview says otherwise.

Sports Illustrated writer Jack McCallum has a Dream Team Tapes podcast with audio clips from old interviews featuring many of the Team USA players, including one featuring Jordan talking about Thomas.

"Rod Thorn called me. I said, 'Rod, I won't play if Isiah Thomas is on the team,'" MJ said. "He assured me. He said, 'You know what? Chuck doesn't want Isiah. So, Isiah is not going to be part of the team.'"

Thorn, the executive in charge of building the 1992 Olympic roster and the man who drafted Jordan as the Chicago Bulls general manager in 1984, denied ever having such a conversation.

"There was never anything in my conversation with [Jordan] that had to do with Isiah Thomas, period," said Thorn.

Charles Barkley wasn't convinced. "They never asked me personally about Isiah, and then Michael, I guess, had lied for 100 years," the 1993 MVP said on the Spittin' Chiclets podcast.

"Saying he had nothing to do with it, and then the tape came out. They got Michael on tape, saying he wouldn't play if Isiah is on the team. So, I guess it's true. I guess Michael didn’t want him on the team, plain and simple."

“Isiah Thomas was not a member of the Dream Team primarily because of two men, Michael Jordan and Chuck Daly,” McCallum wrote. “If we want to put a finer point on it, it was really one man – Jordan.”

Jordan has vehemently denied the allegation that he was the main reason Thomas didn't make the Dream Team, but admitted he thought the 12-time All-Star's inclusion would ruin team chemistry.

"The Dream Team, based on the environment and the camaraderie that happened on that team...it was the best harmony," Jordan said in The Last Dance. "Would Isiah have made a different feeling on that team? Yes."

MJ ultimately wasn't the decision-maker but still had his own motives for not wanting IT anywhere near the Dream Team.

He wasn't the only one.

Team USA co-captains Magic Johnson and Larry Bird also had their own separate grievances with Thomas.

Thomas irked the Lakers and Celtics legends when he agreed with teammate Dennis Rodman that Bird would be just another good player if he was Black.

"When Thomas made those comments, Magic called Bird and made clear he didn't agree. The Magic-Thomas relationship was never the same," according to GQ (although Magic and Thomas did bury the hatchet in an incredibly emotional one-on-one interview in 2017).

The Hall of Fame point guards were previously like brothers but their friendship was on the rocks even before Thomas' comments about Bird.

Their relationship took a turn for the worse in 1991 when Magic tested positive for HIV. Johnson's agent, Lou Rosen, reportedly told him that Thomas was spreading rumors about his sexuality, something Isiah strongly denied ever doing.

On talent alone, Thomas should have been on the Dream Team.

“I think Isiah Thomas was a better player than John Stockton. Isiah Thomas probably should’ve been on the team," Charles Barkley recently said.

But the-then 31-year-old Thomas was a polarizing figure who had alienated himself from key members of the Team USA locker room.

If it was a straight choice between MJ, Bird, and Magic, or Thomas, there was only ever going to be one winner.

Ultimately, the decision to leave Thomas at home was one that paid off as the Dream Team destroyed their Olympics competition, winning by an average margin of 44 points en route to the gold medal.

However, 30 years later, the 63-year-old Thomas is still not over his Dream Team omission.

He's still on bad terms with Michael Jordan too, recently telling Warriors star Draymond Green why, in his eyes, his relationship with the Bulls legend is unsalvageable.

"Until he apologizes on international television... ain't no conversation," the two-time NBA champ said.

Being left off the Dream Team is still a sore point for the 50th and 75th NBA anniversary team member, who admits he still doesn't understand the decision after all these years.

"The only thing that’s missing from my resume is not being on the Dream Team," Thomas said. "I still don’t know who did it or why they say I didn’t make it.”