I don’t think anyone can argue against the fact that the Bad Boys were an all-time great team and Isiah was an all-time great player. You don’t win back to back championships with Magic, Bird, and Jordan in league unless you were some bad motherfuckers.
But you can’t deny the fact that those dudes were some world class assholes who pissed so many people off they are *still/I] mad about what happened 30 years ago. And I don’t think you can deny the fact that Bad Boys are happy people are still pissed off.
Michael Jordan simply stated that, if Isiah Thomas was on the team, he wouldn’t play because of his personal feelings about him. He didn’t actively campaign or maneuver to make it happen. To me, “keeping Isiah Thomas off off the Dream Team” would have to entail that kind of effort, which is a lot more than simply stating you’re not going to play with someone.
Jordan knew then what his value was to USA Dream Team. We’re being naive if we think that the Dream Team was simply about Olympic competition; it was as much about expanding the markets of NBA as anything, and what bigger and more influential star was there than Jordan? There were enough good players and other stars on that team that Thomas was expendable, and Jordan knew it.
Jordan was a great player, and the documentary reminded us of that. But it also reminded of us of what a petty douche he could be.
The NBA and team Jordan did such a great job of managing his public persona during his playing days that many people had no idea what he was like behind the scenes. This doc has thrown back the curtain and I believe it has propelled Jordan to new levels of douche-bauchery.
Compared to Jordan, Kobe looks like a friendly, down to earth fellow.
I threw the Knick in only at the end, when Isiah’s run was done. But I’ll add them here in my updated list (updates bolded):
1985 NBA playoffs: Larry beat Isiah
1987 NBA playoffs: Larry beat Isiah
1988 NBA playoffs: Isiah beat Larry, Magic beat Isiah
1989 NBA playoffs: Isiah beat Larry, Isiah beat Michael, Isiah beat Magic
1990 NBA playoffs: Isiah beat Patrick, Isiah beat Michael
1991 NBA playoffs: Michael beat Isiah
1992 NBA playoffs: Patrick beat Isiah
Isiah vs Larry: 2-2
Isiah vs Michael: 2-1
Isiah vs Magic: 1-1 Isiah vs Patrick: 1-1
This is a list by postseason series, not games, and not the regular season games — and focused on Isiah versus Larry, Magic, Michael, and now Patrick.
I’d forgotten about Isiah’s injuries too. Thanks for the reminders. Isiah was one badass dude, definitely great and based on skill level he should have been on the Dream Team. As he said in The Last Dance, he definitely had the credentials to qualify.
Yes the Bad Boys were an all-time great team, nobody’s saying they’re not. And for me as a Celtics fan, those motherfuckers did piss me off, the way they played. But they won, you gotta give them that.
A couple of things I learned about those great Bulls teams in The Last Dance was how key Phil Jackson was to that team winning. Not just in distributing the ball, more for Scottie and less for Michael, but also handling their personalities. Especially Dennis. They had to have Dennis contribute strongly in the second three-peat. But as a more casual fan I guess all (or most) championship winning coaches do that on some level — Pat, Chuck, and, for the Celtics, Bill and KC. I don’t follow closely enough to know or appreciate who the prima donnas were on all those 80s and 90s teams.
And then the other thing was just how driven Michael was to win, almost at all costs, and also with how overtly he projected his drive onto the rest of the team.
But maybe that’s the nature of dynasties — those teams are comprised of driven winners. Of course.
I’ll toss in a third revelation from the documentary: Jerry Krause. He architected and orchestrated the whole thing. He drafted and traded brilliantly. And sure he closed the door at the beginning of that final season, and he was made to be the villain, but the man behind all that was Reinsdorf. In the documentary, for it to come across the way it did for Krause, it seems like Reinsdorf threw him under the bus.
And I’ll toss in one final thing about the show: I’d almost forgotten how hot Carmen Electra was. And still is.
Of course, you don’t make a great team just by getting a set of great players. They have to play together well. And even if Thomas was a great player, on his own merits, if the rest of the team wouldn’t be able to play well with him (due to personality, history, or any other factor), then he wouldn’t necessarily be the best person for the team.
I got to watch the Dream Team in person. The qualifying tournament was held in Portland, OR. This was the reason Clyde Drexler was added to the team (presumably instead of Thomas). My dad had to buy a package of four games for the whole family just for us to once watch the ultimate all-star team slaughter, uh, Panama? Unforgettable and worth every penny.
This was mere weeks after my Blazers were beaten in the NBA Finals by the Bulls. In previous seasons we’d been eliminated by Magic’s Lakers and Thomas’s Pistons. Even I was excited to see Jordan and Magic on the same team. Thomas’s absence wasn’t even with noticing.