Scottie Pippen Was Thrilled When USA Basketball President Told Him Isiah Thomas Wouldn’t Be On ‘The Dream Team’: ‘Here Was Someone I Hoped Would Be Staying Home’

NBA legend Scottie Pippen was thrilled when USA Basketball President C.M. Newton told him Isiah Thomas wouldn’t be on “The Dream Team.”

Pippen and several players on “The Dream Team” hated Thomas. 

“As for Isiah, I asked Newton because here was someone I hoped would be staying home,” Pippen wrote in his book. “No, he won’t be on the team, Newton told me, and that was all he had to say on the matter. That was enough.”

Pippen, Michael Jordan, Magic Johnson and Larry Bird didn’t want Thomas on “The Dream Team,” which was made up of Pippen, Jordan, Johnson, Bird, Charles Barkley, Karl Malone, Chris Mullin, Clyde Drexler, Patrick Ewing, David Robinson, Christian Laettner and John Stockton. 

“The Dream Team” went undefeated in the 1992 Olympics. USA beat Croatia in the gold medal game. 

Every player from “The Dream Team” is in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame except for Laettner, who didn’t become a star in the NBA after being a dominant force in college at Duke.

“Much has been written over the years about why Isiah didn’t make the team,” Pippen wrote. “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. Newton and other members of the committee knew how we felt. Not even Chuck Daly, the team’s head coach — and Isiah’s coach since 1983 — lobbied for him. 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.”

Thomas was the leader of “The Bad Boys.” The Pistons used to hurt players on purpose, which is why players hated Thomas and Co. 

Detroit was swept by the Chicago Bulls in the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. Before Game 4 ended, Thomas and the Pistons walked off the court and didn’t shake hands with the Bulls. 

Pippen revealed in his book that Thomas, one of the top point guards in NBA history, reached out to him to try and patch things up in 2020.

And as expected, Pippen wasn’t interested. 

“In the spring of 2020, while the doc was being aired, Isiah was interested in the two of us declaring a truce,” Pippen wrote. “He reached out to B. J. 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.”

Pippen and Jordan won six championships together with the Bulls, while Thomas won two rings with the Pistons.