{"id":1355781,"date":"2021-04-27T09:00:00","date_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/?p=1355781"},"modified":"2021-04-27T09:00:02","modified_gmt":"2021-04-27T13:00:02","slug":"isiah-thomas-team-usa-troubles-didnt-end-or-begin-when-left-off-1992-dream-team","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sports7.us\/news\/isiah-thomas-team-usa-troubles-didnt-end-or-begin-when-left-off-1992-dream-team\/","title":{"rendered":"Isiah Thomas' Team USA Troubles Didn't End (or Begin) When He Was Left off the 1992 Dream Team"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Legendary Detroit Pistons<\/a> point guard Isiah Thomas<\/a> had quite the phenomenal career, didn't he? Just a few months before he headed to the Motor City as the No. 2 overall pick in the 1981 NBA draft, he'd led the Indiana Hoosiers to a national championship, winning Most Outstanding Player in the process. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zeke then went on to become a 12-time NBA All-Star, a two-time All-Star Game MVP, a five-time All-NBA selection (three First Team, two Second Team), and, of course, a two-time NBA champion and an NBA Finals MVP. Thomas was also named one of the top 50 players in league history when the NBA celebrated its 50th anniversary in 1996-1997. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

But despite all of those accomplishments and accolades, it still often seems that the biggest story surrounding Thomas was his famous omission from the 1992 Dream Team<\/a> that took the gold medal in Barcelona, which was actually the second time Isiah missed out on the Olympics. But that's not even the end of Zeke's story with Team USA as he was actually left off the second version of the Dream Team as well...at least originally. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isiah Thomas' first chance at the Olympics was taken away due to the U.S. boycotting the 1980 Summer Games in Moscow<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
\"Isiah
Isiah Thomas | Jeff Kowalsky\/AFP via Getty Images<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

RELATED: How Isiah Thomas Changed His Story Through the Years About the Pistons' Walk-Off After Losing to Michael Jordan and the Bulls<\/a><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Isiah missed his first opportunity to compete at the Olympics in 1980 as the United States famously boycotted the Summer Games in Moscow to protest the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in late 1979. Thomas was just a freshman at Indiana in 1979-1980 but had a fantastic season for Bobby Knight<\/a>‘s Hoosiers, averaging 14.6 points and 5.5 assists per game, earning him a spot on what would have been Team USA's youngest squad to compete at the Olympics. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Sure, there's certainly no guarantee that the U.S. would have won the gold medal as Yugoslavia fielded a very tough team that year and went a perfect 8-0 on the way to the top of the podium. But while Thomas and the rest of his young teammates didn't get to compete at the Olympics, they at least got to play a few exhibition games against an assortment of teams comprised of NBA players and the 1976 team that won gold in Montreal, going 4-1 in what was called the “Gold Medal Series.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Zeke was famously left off the 1992 Dream Team<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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