Isiah Thomas remains unwilling to settle his differences with Michael Jordan (Image: Getty Images)
Isiah Thomas refuses to make amends with Michael Jordan until he publicly apologizes for his comments on “The Last Dance”.

Jordan, 61, has not done anything of the sort in the four years since the miniseries first aired in 2020. Thomas takes umbrage with Jordan for calling him an “a**hole” over his involvement in the infamous walkoff after Game 4 of the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals.

Jordan’s Chicago Bulls swept Thomas’ Detroit Pistons in the series on the road at the Palace, but Thomas left the court with 7.9 seconds still on the clock and did not congratulate his opponents. Mark Aguirre and Bill Laimbeer also followed, but Joe Dumars and John Salley stayed to shake hands.

In “The Last Dance,” Jordan was unwilling to be swayed by any explanation from Thomas. Before being shown a clip of the former Pistons player talking about the walk-off, Jordan remarked: “Well, I know it’s all bull****!

“Whatever he says now, you know it wasn’t his true actions then. He’s had time to think about it. Or, the reaction of the public, that’s kind of changed his perspective of it. You can show me anything you want. There’s no way you can convince me he wasn’t an a**hole.”

Thomas does not take too kindly to that description. “This dude got on international television and called me a**hole, somebody who’s been really good to him,” he said on “The Draymond Green Show” when asked if their relationship was salvageable.

Jordan has had a problem with Thomas ever since the 1991 Eastern Conference Finals
“And until he apologizes on international television, there is no conversation. You can’t apologize and have a private dinner when you embarrassed me publicly. If you didn’t mean it, say it publicly. If you meant it, I understand. I’m good with that.”

The comments came as a surprise to Thomas at the time. “I never knew this dude felt the way he felt until ‘The Last Dance’,” Thomas said.

“I’m like, all these years you’ve been standing behind a tree throwing stones and letting somebody else take the fall for it. I never knew he had this dislike and anger for me. Had I known, OK, I’m a grown man, I ain’t got no problem.”

He continued: “At one point in my life, I used to fight really, really good, and I enjoyed fighting. I can’t do that as well as I used to now. We wouldn’t throw hands or anything, but I’m just saying had I known you felt that way, I definitely would have treated you differently.

“But I was very gracious to him. Not only in Chicago but everywhere we went. I never thought there was any type of (dislike). He, Ahmad (Rashad) and I, when I stopped, we went out to dinner several times.

“So I never knew until ‘The Last Dance’ that this dude really felt this way about me… I only know how people are with me when they treat me… And when he and I interacted, it was always good.”