Isiah Thomas recently addressed the portrayal of a supposed beef with Michael Jordan, as depicted in The Last Dance docuseries, emphasizing that their relationship was not characterized by animosity, contrary to the documentary’s narrative.
During the ForbesBLK Summit in Atlanta, Thomas shared insights about his personal rapport with Jordan, highlighting the close familial connection they shared and the significant time they spent together, underscoring the absence of any apparent rift between them.
“I talk to anybody anywhere. I have no fear, I’m from the West side of Chicago. I have no fear of sitting, being in a room, dialoging, having a conversation with anybody,” Thomas explained during the summit.
Reflecting on the reported beef, Thomas highlighted his genuine surprise upon learning about the alleged tensions between him and Jordan, as depicted in The Last Dance, emphasizing that he was not privy to any negative sentiments or actions attributed to Jordan before the documentary’s release.
“Now, that being said, let me reset the stage because when you asked me about The Last Dance, I didn’t know we had a beef, I really didn’t,” Thomas further elaborated during the summit.
“If you see me in the interview, I’m dressed in a three-piece suit,” he continued. “We did the interview right across the street at NBA TV. Jordan and his producer called me themselves and said ‘Hey, we want you to participate in the documentary. Michael admired you, so forth and so on. Can’t tell the story without you.’
“Cool. So I sat down. Now, why I was I so willing to do that. Well, my nephew lived with Michael Jordan for 5 years when Michael Jordan first came to Chicago. My family looked out for him. We all hung together. This beef that supposedly we had or have, I didn’t know anything about until The Last Dance.”
Thomas reiterated his unwavering appreciation for Jordan’s basketball prowess, emphasizing the lack of any publicized negative commentary from his end.
“When people say, well he kept me off the Dream Team, I didn’t know that until the word came out he didn’t want me around so forth and so on. So I never had any doubt in terms of him as a player. You can go and look on records, you’ve never heard me say anything negative about him,” Thomas added.
