Isiah downplays Dream Team snub

Published Jun. 15, 2012 1:00 a.m. ET

Jason Whitlock

Twenty years after being left off the Dream Team, Isiah Thomas is still taking the high road.

Thomas said that he was “honored and flattered” about talk that he should have been a part of the Dream Team in the 1992 Barcelona Olympics but said the rejection hasn’t bothered him.

“I’m proud of what the Dream Team accomplished and the things they did for basketball and winning the gold medal for our country,” he said. “I don’t think whatever thoughts or opinions may have about me not making the team should take away or tarnish what the Dream Team did.”

In a 45-minute discussion from Thomas’ back yard in New York City, he also talked about:

• The quality of Russell Westbrook as a point guard;

• Whether he believed a conspiracy existed against his Bad Boys Pistons teams;

• The important adjustment Dwyane Wade has made;

• Who he thinks is the smartest player in the game today.