While previous episodes of “The Last Dance” explored Michael Jordan's hatred for former Detroit Pistons point guard Isiah Thomas, Episode 5 showed that MJ wasn't the only star to dislike Thomas and the Bad Boys Pistons.
Thomas was infamously not selected to play in the 1992 Men's U.S. Olympic Basketball Team (a.k.a The Dream Team) despite clearly being one of the best players at the time. Apparently though, he was left off because many of the roster's players do not want to play with him due to past feuds.
“At that point Magic and Isaiah had their thing. Bird and Isiah had their thing. And Scottie. That’s half the team. They did not want to play with him,” ESPN's Michael Wilbon said in “The Last Dance” regarding Thomas' relationship with the Dream Team.
Isiah Thomas and the Pistons were known for their tough, extremely physical brand of basketball which often came off as disrespectful to opponents — as documented in “The Last Dance.” In the 1991-92 season, Thomas averaged 18.5 points, 7.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.5 steals per game.
At the same time, Duke sensation Christian Laettner was selected to the team over Thomas despite not yet playing a single game in the NBA.
While Thomas' snub on the roster due to Jordan and the others' gripes with him is well known, the Dream Team managed just fine without the 12-time All-Star.
Despite some slight hiccup in a scrimmage against NCAA players, the U.S. easily won the gold medal that year, scoring an average of 117.3 points per game while defeating their opponents by an average of 43.8 points.
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