Scottie Pippen And Michael Jordan Would Not Have Played For ‘The Dream Team’ If Isiah Thomas Had Been Selected: ‘The Chemistry Would Have Been Horrible’

NBA legends Scottie Pippen and Michael Jordan would not have played for “The Dream Team” if Isiah Thomas had been selected. 

USA Basketball told Pippen and Jordan that Thomas wouldn’t be on the team. 

“Much has been written over the years about why Isiah didn’t make the team,” Pippen wrote in his book. “What is true, without a doubt, is that a number of guys wouldn’t have participated if he had been selected, Michael and me included.”

The “Dream Team” was the 1992 United States basketball team. The roster featured Jordan, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, Pippen, David Robinson, Larry Bird, Magic Johnson, Christian Laettner and John Stockton.

“Not even Chuck Daly, the team’s head coach — and Isiah’s coach since 1983 — lobbied for him,” Pippen wrote. “What does that tell you? Looking at his numbers, it would be difficult to argue Isiah wasn’t deserving. He was a 10-time All-Star, a two-time champion and a sure Hall of Famer. Except putting a basketball team together is about more than numbers. It is about chemistry, and with Isiah on the Dream Team, the chemistry would have been horrible.”

“The Dream Team” won the gold medal in Barcelona in 1992.

In “The Last Dance” docuseries, Jordan admitted that the chemistry was great since Thomas wasn’t on the team.

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

The Chicago Bulls swept the Detroit Pistons in the 1991 NBA Eastern Conference Finals after losing to their rivals in the playoffs for three straight years. Before Game 4 ended, Thomas and the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake the Bulls players’ hands.

Ever since then, it is believed Jordan and Pippen lost their respect for Thomas.

Pippen and Jordan won six championships together on the Bulls, while Thomas won two rings on the Pistons. All three players are in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.

Pippen declined Thomas’ attempt to become friends in 2020. One of the best small forwards in NBA history, Pippen had no interest in becoming friends with Thomas, one of the top point guards of all time. 

“In the spring of 2020, while the doc was being aired, Isiah was interested in the two of us declaring a truce,” Pippen wrote in his book. “He reached out to BJ Armstrong, who called me: ‘Would you be willing to talk to him?’ B.J. asked. Dude, are you kidding me? When I came into the league, he was never nice to me. Why would I want to meet with him now? Isiah is no fool. He knows better than anyone else how poorly he came across in The Last Dance, and with good reason. I wasn’t about to make it easier for him.”