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From Sports Illustrated:

When he heard the criticisms from his former friend Magic Johnson in a soon-to-be-released book, Isiah Thomas said he’d had enough. And so he began to fight back.

“I’m really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,” said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. “I’m totally blindsided by this. Every time that I’ve seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn’t know he felt this way.”

The criticisms are made by Johnson in When The Game Was Ours, which he co-wrote with Larry Bird and author Jackie MacMullan. The book, to be released on Nov. 4, tells the inside story of the most important rivalry in basketball history.

Much of their story involves Thomas, who as captain of the Detroit Pistons served as a primary threat to the championship ambitions of Bird’s Celtics and Magic’s Lakers. The book offers revelations that have stunned Thomas. Magic addresses years of rumors by finally accusing Thomas of questioning his sexuality after Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. Magic also admits that he joined with Michael Jordan and other players in blackballing Thomas from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, saying, “Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. … Michael 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.”

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Tags: Basketball, Isiah Thomas, Magic Johnson
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News One Links

 
  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Da_J_Rok/ Da_J_Rok

    Really that much is old news… I wanna hear some new stuff

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Da_J_Rok/ Da_J_Rok

    Shout out to my cuzzin Big Game James in the back

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/_A_/ _A_

    Grown fckn man, writing about petty s**t? 20 years later? and who really cares anyway? Magic is dead wrong for this, and looks/sounds like a ploy to make some money. I guess those Magic Johnson theaters aren’t doing to well during this recession…How are you going out to dinner and smiling all in the man face, and then betray the dude like this? You think Magic would do that to Bird? I’m really hoping this is just some more typical shoddy reporting from NewsOne and these quotes are wrong, if not, I have lost all respect for Earvin!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/_A_/ _A_

    Oh yes, got to shout out all Tar Heels!!!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BP_SportsFreaks/ BP_SportsFreaks

    Yeah, this is a real mess. Zeke sounds sincere about his involvement. He’s no angel, but it’s hard to believe that he alone lead the charge in all those episodes back in the 80s. They were all ultra competitive, so they all got under each others skin at times. But Magic and Zeke’s friendship seemed to be bigger than all of it. And come to think of it, I’m sure that if Magic had spoken loudly, Zeke would’ve been on the Dream Team, as he should have. It’s a damn shame that Christian Laettner filled Zeke’s spot!!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Sub-Negro/ Sub-Negro

    And John Stockton was on that team too but I think they would always carry one really big college player on the Dream Team. But damn Magic that is fu.cked up though.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/1BillionaireMnd/ 1BillionaireMnd

    I lost respect for Magic Johnson alongtime ago…He really is all about himself it appears to me. Just my thought. Great player but lousy character..Money doesn’t make a man. Good character and integrity does.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    After reading this article and knowing some things about Magic outside the game, I’ve realized he is not who I think he was growing up.Similar to Shaq is not who he really is when he was playing for the Lakers. Championships are championships and forever will be grateful for all those memories, but this is life. And life is bigger than the game.

    Magic just finally lost another fan since the 80’s. Ill always have love for you because youre a laker and the greatest to ever play the game.However, LIFE IS STILL BIGGER THAN THE GAME. But aye like the person below me said, trying to get your money even if you have to sell your soul and s**t on your community. However, I dont condone selling out for some crumbs.

    At least, Isiah was always man enough to admit when he is wrong and made mistakes. I can always respect a man that can admit their mistakes and short comings.Magic, Bird, and MJ were just mad because you have Isiah who is 5-11 and detroit team shutting them down.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/jazzpast/ jazzpast

    If they really need a college player in the roster, how come there was no college player in 96, 2000, 2004,and 2008??

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/Jack_Stephen1/ Jack_Stephen1

    magic should shut his a ass up talkin about nobody wanted to play with zeke; my boy karl was hesitant to be on the court with his his a ss when he first talked about comin outta retirement. i bet other players felt the same but only karl spoke out

    i never trust anybody that smiles and cackles as much as tragic johnson.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/KNOW-LEJ/ KNOW-LEJ

    Magic’s an an arrogant ass and always has been. I’m a true Isaiah fan the best little big man ever to play the game. F_ck Magic’s fake HIV havin ass. Preachin on petty s**t, this ain’t middle school. Get a life!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/TMAC_35000/ TMAC_35000

    Majic must be in need of some money. Why would he be coming out of the blue with a book all of the sudden?

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/TMAC_35000/ TMAC_35000

    *Magic*

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/manofsteel35/ manofsteel35

    Man! That’s dirty of Magic to air his dirty laundry after all of these years!! Isiah’s always been a friend of my family for years, and he’s just a standup, no-nonsense type of guy! Magic knows he has skeletons in his closet…it’s kind of too late to try to cover it up now….Mr Earvin should’ve kept his “Johnson” out of unsafe places. An no matter what those other player haters had to say about Zeke, he was still the best point-guard in the league in that era!

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/LastManStandingTall/ LastManStandingTall

    Both of them are acting like homos. Talking behind each other’s backs is what girls do. Gay rumors are CONFIRMED to me. They should kiss and make up…

  • http://www.blackinfo.net/?p=5401 Black Info.Net – African American News Hub | Black Info.Net

    [...] Thomas, Love & Basketball Read more here: Isiah Thomas Responds To Criticisms From Magic Johnson’s New Book Related ArticleGlenn Beck Says Progressives Used To Be Slave Owners Posted in The 411 Tags: [...]

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/venom11/ venom11

    Is anyone really suprised by Magic? Dude has been fake for so long Zeke shouldn’t even overly upset. How are you gonna be in this man’s face for all these years up until recently and then do some bulls**t like that. If he didn’t like Isiah and had all these issues why is he up in NY hanging with him and the Knicks? That’s female s**t Magic is doing. Two faced snake. If he had a real bone in his body he would’ve told Zeke to his face whatever was on his mind. He’s really wack for his role in keeping Zeke off the Dream Team. I understand why MJ, Scotty, and Larry didn’t want him on the team. They never pretended to like eachother. But Magic rode with a dude(mailman) who was the first one to say he didn’t want to play with Magic because of the HIV. What a b***h ass nigga he is.

  • http://www.blackplanet.com/BlackCasper2001/ BlackCasper2001

    It seems that Magic doesn’t know who to associate himself with. How are you going to s**t on someone who had your back. Magic is just in the basketball industry today for money. I don’t think he cares about the game anymore.

    N.S. Ugezene

    http://stores.lulu.com/NSUgezene

  • http://sportige.com/11-photos-love-soccer-nba/ Valentine’s Day Special – Sport Love | Sportige

    [...] Image: Source [...]

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