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Audio Proves Michael Jordan Did Keep Isiah Thomas Off Dream Team

“Rod Thorn called me. I said, ‘Rod, I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.’ He assured me. He said, ‘You know what? Chuck [Charles Barkley] doesn’t want Isiah. So, Isiah is not going to be part of the team.'”

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Following the smashing success of ESPN’s The Last Dance, iHeartRadio and Diversion are diving deeper into one specific aspect of the Michael Jordan story. The two companies have partnered to present The Dream Team Tapes, a podcast dedicated to the 1992 United States Men’s Olympic Basketball Team.

In The Last Dance, Jordan swore that while he didn’t want to play with Isiah Thomas, he did not specifically demand the Detroit Pistons guard be kept off the team. That isn’t true according to Jordan himself.

Jack McCallum, the renowned sportswriter who’s audio recordings from the time make up the majority of The Dream Team Tapes podcast, provided a recording in which Jordan says “Rod Thorn called me. I said, ‘Rod, I won’t play if Isiah Thomas is on the team.’ He assured me. He said, ‘You know what? Chuck [Charles Barkley] doesn’t want Isiah. So, Isiah is not going to be part of the team.'”

Thorn was a member of the US Olympic selection committee in 1992.

Technically, the audio does prove part of what Michael Jordan said in his interview in episode 5 of The Last Dance. He was far from the only member of the team with a beef against Thomas.

Several critics called ESPN out for giving Michael Jordan editorial control of the series and letting many of his claims go unchallenged. This audio does bring the debate about the journalistic value of ESPN’s documentary back into the spotlight.

For his part, Thomas addressed the rumors and the controversy on ESPN’s Get Up! last month. He said that he will always be disappointed by not being asked to be a part of the 1992 Olympic team, but if it’s true that a personal beef over not shaking hands after a playoff game is what caused that, “then I am more disappointed today than I was back then when I wasn’t selected.”

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‘Saving Sakic’ to Premiere in U.S. April 17 on ESPN+

The documentary follows the high-stakes saga that ensued when Colorado Avalanche Chairman/CEO Charlie Lyons was blindsided by an attempt to sign away the captain of his team, Joe Sakic.

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Graphic for Saving Sakic

Prime Video and NHL Productions revealed the trailer for the upcoming original hockey documentary ‘Saving Sakic’ premiering on April 16 for Prime members in Canada and April 17 for ESPN+ subscribers in the U.S. 

The documentary follows the high-stakes saga that ensued when Colorado Avalanche Chairman/CEO Charlie Lyons was blindsided by an attempt to sign away the captain of his team, Joe Sakic. With only seven days to raise $15 million to save his star, Charlie finds a lifeline from an unexpected place – Hollywood.

Joe Sakic garnered a slew of accolades over his 20-season NHL career, first for the Quebec Nordiques, who selected him in the first round of the 1987 NHL Draft, and later for the Colorado Avalanche after the Nordiques relocated to Denver. In Colorado, he captured two Stanley Cups, won the Hart Trophy as NHL MVP, and the Conn Smythe Trophy as MVP of the playoffs. As part of NHL’s Centennial celebration in 2017, Sakic was voted one of the 100 Greatest Players in League history.

‘Saving Sakic’  is directed by Jay Nelson with executive producers Steve Mayer, Ross Bernard, and Craig Axelrod for NHL Productions and Gary Cohen for Triple Threat TV. Saving Sakic joins sports content on Prime Video, including original documentaries Chosen One: Alexandre Daigle, Giannis: The Marvelous Journey, KelceAll or Nothing: Toronto Maple Leafs, and Sportsnet on Prime Video Channels.

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Saquon Barkley to WFAN’s Tiki Barber: “Don’t Feed Into the B.S.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Logo for the New Heights podcast and a photo of Saquon Barkley

Former New York Giants and current Philadelphia Eagles running back Saquon Barkley made an appearance this week on New Heights, the podcast hosted by Travis and Jason Kelce. In addition to several football related topics, Barkley spoke about his war of words with WFAN host and former Giants running back Tiki Barber.

After Barkley signed with the Eagles on a three-year, $37.5 million deal, Barber said that Barkley was “dead to us,” referring to New York Giants fans. Barber has said those comments were more about what the fans were thinking and were “tongue-in-cheek.” Barkley came back at Barber on social media and said he was a “hater” since he came to New York.

In explaining what made him upset about Barber’s response, Barkley said he didn’t think it was right to be attacked by a former player.

“I love seeing NFL guys, I love seeing OGs, I love seeing you guys, you have a platform, this is a place where you know ball, you can talk, you can educate fans,” Barkley said. “Maybe use that time to show, ‘Maybe this is why Saquon is going to Philly’ … the business side of it, use that to show, I’m not saying you got to have loyalty to me because I don’t care for that, to be honest, but you are an ex-NFL player, an ex-NFL athlete, don’t feed into the B.S., let fans do that, they’re supposed to do that, they’re emotional.”

Barkley said any narrative that he chose to go to Philadelphia over staying with the Giants is incorrect because New York never offered him a contract.

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Joe Buck Misses Calling Baseball But Says He’s Already Called it for “A Lifetime”

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in.”

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Credit: Richard Shotwell AP

Longtime sports broadcaster Joe Buck gave up calling baseball when he made the switch to ESPN and, while he says he misses the sport, he’s called 35 years’ worth of the sport. On the latest edition of Nothing Left Unsaid with Tim Green, Green asks his former broadcast partner about the lack of baseball in his life. While Buck says he misses parts of baseball, he doesn’t miss all of it.

“People go, ‘Do you miss calling baseball?’ — I did it for 35 years, that is a lifetime in broadcasting…I feel like I put my time in. I did 24 World Series — that’s a lot, 24 more than I ever expected to do on national television. What I do miss is calling the game for the home crowd. I do miss the local stuff, where you go into the booth, and you’re the Cardinal announcer, and when the Cardinals win, ‘Yay,’ and when the Cardinals lose, ‘Boo.’ When you do the network stuff, it’s like death by 1000 cuts. It’s, ‘you hate my team, screw you,’ and it gets in your head and it takes a little bit of the fun out of it…I don’t miss the stress that comes with all that, but I do miss calling baseball for [a local team]…You show up, you’re not just there for an organization, but for their fans, and you’re kind of rooting along with them. That’s fun. And so, I miss that, but as far as the national stuff, I don’t miss a lot of that.”

Buck reiterated points he made months ago on 810 WHB with Jason Anderson. “I miss doing local baseball. I miss putting on a headset and being the eyes and ears of Cardinal fans, Royal fans, Rangers fans, whatever,” Buck said back then. “That’s more fun than being Switzerland and getting all the junk that comes with it.”

He stopped calling baseball when he and longtime football partner Troy Aikman moved from FOX to ESPN to call Monday Night Football. While he said publicly that he would miss calling the World Series, he also said the 2022 World Series would have been his last anyway. Buck says he may one day feel compelled to call baseball again, though, saying, “I’ve never said that before, but I just feel like I’m 53, basically 54, [and] I think it’s too early to say nevers at this point in my life. I think at some point, I’ll get the itch again.”

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