Isiah Thomas Talks Not Making Dream Team Possibly Due to Michael Jordan Snub

Whether it was via an actual ultimatum or just people being able to read a room, we know Isiah Thomas' relationship with Michael Jordan played a large part in his being left off the 1992 Dream Team.

Ahead of The Last Dance's look into the Dream Team next week, Thomas spoke Monday on ESPN's Get Up! about his disappointment of not making the squad:

"Being left off the Dream Team, that personally hurt me. In 1980, I was on the Olympic team. As a matter of fact, I was voted the Male Athlete of the Year in 1980 for the USA Olympic Team. And, you know, the only thing missing from my resume is not being on the Dream Team. Now, when the Dream Team was selected and I wasn't a part of it, there was a lot of controversy around it. And I still don't know who did it or why they say I didn't make it. I know the criteria for selection of making the team, I had fit all the criteria. And that's a big hole in my resume, that's the biggest hole in my resume. That is the only place, and that's the only thing in my resume that I did not succeed at. 

"... I tried to do everything correctly, and I thought I should've made the Dream Team. However, I wasn't a part of it. That hurt me. And looking back, if I'm not a part of the Dream Team because, you know, a lapse in emotion in terms of not shaking someone's hand, if that's the reason why I didn't make the Dream Team, then I am more disappointed today than I was back then when I wasn't selected."

While Thomas' resume fit all the criteria for selection, he was persona non grata among several Dream Team members—particularly Jordan. Their hatred began during the 1985 All-Star Game, when Thomas allegedly led a freezeout of Jordan, and continued as the Bulls and Pistons battled for Eastern Conference supremacy from 1988-91.

Thomas' fate on the team was apparently sealed when the Pistons walked off the court rather than shaking the Bulls' hands after losing the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. 

"We were picking a group just after the Pistons had been eliminated by the Bulls," former NBA Deputy Commissioner Russ Granik said in the 2012 Dream Team documentary. "It was very bad timing for Isiah. Everyone had that impression in their mind, the picture of Isiah walking off the court." 

Jordan said Thomas not being part of the squad was one of the "stipulations" presented to him when he agreed to be part of the Dream Team.