What did Isiah Thomas say on Michael Jordan’s apology for calling him an 'a**hole'?
The public feud between Isiah Thomas and Michael Jordan has remained one of the most bitter rivalries in all of professional sports. From their battles opposite one another in the Eastern Conference to Thomas allegedly being snubbed from the Olympic team, the duo go way back.
Although Jordan tends to keep a low profile, giving few interviews and rarely making TV appearances, Thomas has become a fixture of TNT's NBA coverage. When The Last Dance aired on TV, he admitted that he was blindsided when Jordan called him an asshole in one of the recorded interviews.
During a recent interview with fellow NBA veterans Matt Barnes & Stephen Jackson, Thomas spoke about the situation, demanding an apology from Jordan. Although the Chicago Bulls legend has allegedly apologized behind the scenes with his PR team, Thomas wants a genuine apology, and he wants it publicly.
After saying that he's always willing to sit down and discuss things man to man, the Hall of Famer stated:
"Some people, they ain't been telling the truth. Now, anywhere, any time, publicly. Don't call me behind the scenes apologizing or asking your friends to apologize. You got on national television, and you called me an asshole? And then you said you hated me.
He added:
"You said that on national television. Now if you didn't mean it, get on national television and apologize for it. Now if you meant it? Let it ride as it is."
He then followed up the clip with a Tweet, which can be seen below:
My man @ShannonSharpe @RealSkipBayless please listen to my words, the apology has come from his people speaking for him privately, my request is you said it publicly take it back publicly don’t send your people to apologize behind the scenes. twitter.com/isiahthomas/st…
Does Michael Jordan really hate Isiah Thomas?
As Stephen Jackson pointed out in the interview clip, he has seen plenty of instances where Jordan and Thomas were together with no problems. Given that Jordan declared his hatred for Thomas, it came as a surprise to more than just the Pistons' legend.
To make the matter even more confusing, as Thomas pointed out, his family and Jordan's family became close when he went to Chicago. Given that Thomas was from the Windy City, the congeniality between the two families seemed like a natural fit.
As Isiah Thomas stated in the interview, he even had a nephew that lived with Jordan for a time. Additionally, Jordan allegedly also repeatedly voted for Thomas to lead the players union.
The way he sees things, if Jordan doesn't hate him, then he had no reason to call him an asshole on national TV and should therefore apologize. So far, of course, there has been no word yet from MJ.
As fans may remember, the beef with Isiah Thomas isn't the only one Jordan has held onto after many years. The Hall of Famer has also held a grudge against Charles Barkley for many years after he criticized Jordan as an NBA team owner.
While Barkley has also expressed an interest in burying the hatchet with his former friend, only time will tell whether Jordan is interested in mending fences.
You can see the clip of Thomas in its entirety below:
Zeke keeps it real when his relationship with MJ is brought up.
Part 1 with @IsiahThomas drops Thursday on the ShoBasketball Youtube. https://t.co/r4cqqojdRf