The docu-series on Jordan and the Bulls entitled “The Last Dance” opened some old wounds on Sunday when they talked about the Detroit Pistons not shaking the Bulls hands after getting blown out in the final game of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals. With 7.6 seconds left to play they simply walked off of the floor past the Bulls bench to the locker room.
On Monday Isaiah Thomas spilled his guts on ESPN’s Get Up saying that he’s paid a “heavy price” for declining to shake Jordan and the Bulls hands almost 30 years ago.
He says, “We were coming down, Michael Jordan was coming up. And in coming up, you have certain emotions, and in coming down as champions, you have certain emotions. … Looking back, over the years, had we had the opportunity to do it all over again, I think all of us would make a different decision.”
He goes on to say, “I’ve paid a heavy price for that decision. And in paying that price — I understand this is the sports world and everything else, but at the same time, looking back over it in terms of how we felt at that particular time, our emotional state and how we exited the floor — we actually gave the world the opportunity to look at us in a way that we never really tried to position ourselves in or project ourselves in that way. So it’s unfortunate that it happened.”
However, the big homie Bill Laimbeer was a G about his decision and stood on it while speaking with Rachel Nichols in an interview that aired on Monday as well. Ole boy was like, “Why would I regret it now, today? I don’t care what the media says about me. I never did. If I did, I’d be a basket case, especially back then.
I was about winning basketball games and winning championships and did whatever I had to do to get the most out of my ability and our team — and we did. At the end of the day, we’re called world champions.”
Let’s keep it real or all the way 100, whichever comes 1st! I’m with Laimbeer on this one bruh. If you’re going to be a jerk in this game and that’s the edited version by the way, then be a jerk. Boyz kill me acting like Jordan is God and nobody can diss him or say anything bad about him. If Laimbeer and the Pistons decided to say screw the Bulls and walk off of the floor after losing they had the right to do that. It was poor sportsmanship but they did it. They were grown and they did it.
We’ve seen far worse acts of ignorance on the floor than not shaking a boy’z hand after losing a game. We saw stuff like Dennis Rodman kicking an innocent cameraman in the crouch for doing his job but nobody’s killing him for that decades later. We saw Ron Artest run up in the stands and beat the breaks off of a fan, and rightfully so, but it happened.
However, the Pistons say screw the Bulls in an act of emotional foolishness and Zeke gets dissed from the greatest team ever assembled “The 1992 Dream Team because he didn’t kiss the ring of Jordan that he’d already eliminated three straight years from the playoffs? Are you kidding me? The fact that Zeke wasn’t on the Dream Team says a lot about the pettiness of Jordan but NOBODY wants to say it. Incredible.
I’m with Laimbeer on this one. They finally beat the Pistons and got over the hump but they shouldn’t feel bad about being jerks darn near 30 years ago.
Zeke, in my opinion, made a fool of himself on Monday walking back his decision trying to get into the good graces of Jordan and all of the Jordanaires and that includes the media.
Duns act like this dude is God and his legacy can never be challenged. It’s crazy to me. He’s the GOAT because of his influence globally on the game with the Jordan Brand and his ability to play the game no doubt. But is he the best all-around player we’ve ever seen? No! But that’s an argument for another day.
However, he does some foul stuff too and EVERYBODY act like he’s a saint. We sat and watched him throw his ENTIRE team under the bus in Episode 1 by saying that he knocked on the hotel room door and everybody on the team was doing drugs and had women in the room but him. WHO DOES THAT?
That was a punk move all day if you grew up in the hood and understand what loyalty really looks like. If you weren’t involved then you don’t comment at all. The proper response to that question should have been “Hey bruh I didn’t see anything and it ain’t my business.” That’s what a real G says.
Bill Laimbeer was and is still a G for not apologizing for being a jerk almost 30 years ago. He was a jerk on the floor and he went out a jerk. Why apologize now? Stop me when I start lyin’!
