Thomas and Magic Johnson famously kissed moments before tip-off of Game
1 of the 1988 NBA finals.
Today, the relationship clearly isn’t anywhere near as close.
Thomas told SI.com earlier this week
that he is “really hurt” over criticisms levied by Johnson in a new
book chronicling the careers of Johnson and Larry Bird. According to
Thursday’s SI.com report, Johnson said Thomas questioned his sexuality
after the Los Angeles Lakers star retired in 1991 after being diagnosed
with HIV.
Johnson also tells the Web site that he helped play a role in keeping Thomas off the 1992 U.S. Olympic team.
“Isiah killed his own chances when it
came to the Olympics,” Johnson said in the book. “Nobody on that team
wanted to play with him. … Michael [Jordan] didn’t want to play with him.
Scottie [Pippen] wanted no part of him. Bird wasn’t pushing for him.
Karl Malone didn’t want him. Who was saying, ‘We need this guy?’
Nobody.'”
Thomas, now coaching at FIU in Miami,
said he declined a chance to be interviewed for the book. According to
its index, he appears on at least 26 pages of the book, which Johnson
and Bird wrote with author Jackie MacMullan.
“I’m really hurt, and I really feel
taken advantage of for all these years,” Thomas told SI.com. “I’m
totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has
been friendly with me.”
FIU had no immediate comment. Thomas’
spokesman said the remarks were accurate. Thomas was scheduled to be
available to reporters later Thursday night at an alumni event in
Miami.
In the book, an advance copy of which
was also obtained by The Associated Press, Johnson said the failed
relationship with Thomas is “the biggest personal disappointment of my
life … nothing else is even close.”
The book comments by Johnson are the
latest salvo in a strained relationship, once made famous by the
pre-finals kiss and a pair of crowd-pleasing 1-on-1 battles in the final
moments of the 1992 NBA All-Star game. But even during those 1988
finals, Johnson and Thomas let their competitive sides boil over,
jostling with each other after physical play later in the series.
In Johnson’s words, he and Thomas are now “cordial. That’s about it.”
Last fall, Johnson said he would not
recommend Thomas for any other NBA jobs, after Thomas’ stints with both
the Indiana Pacers and New York Knicks were rocky at times —
particularly so in New York. Johnson said he “separated the personal
from the professional” when telling Knicks officials that they should
consider Thomas to coach their team.
“I wish he would have had the
courage to say this stuff to me face to face, as opposed to writing it
in some damn book to sell and he can make money off it,” Thomas said.
Thomas also told SI.com that he did
not question Johnson’s sexuality, adding that Johnson “acted and
responded off some really bad information that he got.”