So, Thursday, when Thomas wanted to focus on preparing the Golden Panthers for their upcoming game against North Carolina, he was on the phone, vehemently defending himself and bracing for the dredging up of decades-old controversies. It has been a tough week for Thomas. His mother, Mary, suffered a heart attack in Fort Lauderdale last week, and was released from the hospital Thursday.
"I'm just surprised and hurt, and it's a complete shock to me that Magic felt this way when I acted and conducted myself as his friend for all these years," Thomas told The Miami Herald after SI.com published the first excerpts from the book. "If all this was to sell a book, is that really worth it? I guess Magic got what he wanted, which was to bring attention to his book, but there must be a better way than dragging me into it. I just wish he would have spoken to me, as opposed to writing all this in a book and then having to deal with it so publicly."
Thomas said he had friendly chats with Johnson in the tunnel at Knicks games, had dinner with him a few times in recent years, and last saw Johnson in August, when he flew to Los Angeles to be part of a charity event honoring the Lakers legend.
"Jerry West was there, James Worthy, a really nice event, I hugged Magic and his wife, Cookie, and I thought everything was cool between us."
Johnson co-wrote the book, "When The Game Was Ours, with Larry Bird and author Jackie MacMullan. It is the story of their rivalry, and Thomas, the Hall of Fame captain of the Detroit Pistons, was right in the middle of it. Johnson says their friendship soured during the 1988 and 1989 Finals.
Thomas said he considered ignoring the book and not commenting, but "for four years in New York I let people take shots at me, and by not responding and taking the high road, I thought the truth would come out. That's not how it worked out, so I'm speaking out and defending myself this time. It feels good to stand up for myself."
Thomas said he was particularly hurt to learn that Johnson, one of his closest friends in the 1980s, tried to keep him off the Olympic team.
Johnson wrote: "Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. . . . Michael (Jordan) 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."
Thomas responded: "For so many years, people blamed Jordan for the Olympic thing, and nobody really understood what went on there because, I mean, (Pistons coach) Chuck Daly was the coach. Now, I come to find out that Magic's saying it was him who was behind it. At least he had the courage to stand up and admit it, but it hurts because I thought we had a genuine friendship.
"Why didn't he just tell me that to my face? We've seen each other a lot over the years, had enough access and close contact, so he should have just said, 'Hey, this is what happened with the Dream Team. Scottie Pippen and Karl Malone didn't want you on the team and I took their side.' "
Thomas went on to deny Johnson's allegation that he spread rumors suggesting Johnson got the HIV virus through homosexual or bisexual activity.
In the book, Johnson writes: "Isiah kept questioning people about it. I couldn't believe that. The one guy I thought I could count on had all these doubts. It was like he kicked me in the stomach."
Johnson said his agent, Lon Rosen, told him in 1991 that Thomas told him, "I keep hearing Magic is gay," and Rosen said he replied: "C'mon, Isiah, you know Earvin better than anyone," and Thomas supposedly said: "I know, but I don't know what he's doing when he's out there in L.A."
Thomas denied that conversation, and said he is especially sympathetic to people who are HIV positive because his brother, Gregory, died of AIDS. He also said he and his wife, Lynn, did a lot of work for the Simon House in Detroit, a shelter for women and children infected with the AIDS virus.
"I never spread any rumors like that, and I can't believe Magic would take Rosen's word over mine," Thomas said. "That really hurts. He should know me better than that. I was the guy sticking up for him to play in the (1992) All-Star Game when other players were afraid to touch him. I was president of the players association and I told everyone he should play, and I was the first one to shake his hand and hug him at that game. Go back and look."
The book acknowledged that Thomas was, in fact, the first to embrace Johnson.
Thomas said he suspects the book will make headlines for a few weeks, "and then 30 days from now, everyone will be talking about someone else." But in the meantime, "it's very disappointing to know that a person I considered a close friend would put all this stuff out there for the public to consume. That hurts."
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(c) 2009, The Miami Herald.
Visit The Miami Herald Web edition on the World Wide Web at http://www.herald.com/
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Information Services.
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