Isaiah Thomas Riled by Comments in Magic Johnson's Soon-to-be-Released Book "When The Game Was Ours"

Magic Johnson has been relatively drama-free since we all got over the shock of his explosive revelation that he was HIV positive. He has done pretty well for himself as a mover and a shaker in the business and philanthropic circles, but now comes a new drama in the pages of a soon-to-be-released book, "When The Game Was Ours," which he co-wrote with Larry Bird and author Jackie MacMullan. The book, to be released on Nov. 4, tells the inside story of the most important rivalry in basketball history. What is equally interesting is how quickly Isaiah Thomas has come out swinging against allegations made in the book. I won't diminish Thomas' contribution to basketball, but after the allegations of sexual harassment by a former executive for the NY Knicks and his actions in the aftermath of the trial, which she won, I take his comments with a grain of salt. However, it is safe to say a lot of people questioned Magic Johnson's sexuality when the news broke. At that time, so little was known about HIV and the assumption was that mainly gay or bisexual men contracted the disease.

What has Isaiah Thomas really riled up are the allegations of gossiping and "back-biting" he allegedly engaged in after Johnson disclosed he was HIV positive, at least that's how Magic sees it. According to Sports Illustrated, Johnson said in the book that Thomas was responsible for spreading rumors that he was gay or bisexual after he tested positive for HIV, forcing his retirement at age 32. "Isaiah kept questioning people about it,'' Magic says. "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.''

When he heard the criticisms from his former friend Magic Johnson in a soon-to-be-released book, Isiah Thomas said he'd had enough. And so he began to fight back. "I'm really hurt, and I really feel taken advantage of for all these years,'' said Thomas, the Hall of Fame point guard and former NBA coach and executive, most recently with the Knicks. "I'm totally blindsided by this. Every time that I've seen Magic, he has been friendly with me. Whenever he came to a Knick game, he was standing in the tunnel [to the locker room] with me. He and [Knicks assistant coach] Herb [Williams] and I, we would go out to dinner in New York. I didn't know he felt this way.''

Much of their story involves Thomas, who as captain of the Detroit Pistons served as a primary threat to the championship ambitions of Bird's Celtics and Magic's Lakers. The book offers revelations that have stunned Thomas. Magic addresses years of rumors by finally accusing Thomas of questioning his sexuality after Johnson was diagnosed with HIV in 1991. Magic also admits that he joined with Michael Jordan and other players in blackballing Thomas from the 1992 Olympic Dream Team, saying, "Isiah killed his own chances when it came to the Olympics. Nobody on that team wanted to play with him. ... Michael 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.''

"I'm glad that he's finally had the nerve and the courage to stand up and say it was him, as opposed to letting Michael Jordan take the blame for it all these years,'' Thomas responded during one of several interviews he gave to SI.com on Wednesday. "I wish he would have had the courage to say this stuff to me face to face, as opposed to writing it in some damn book to sell and he can make money off it.''

"What most people don't know is, before Magic had HIV, my brother had HIV,'' Thomas said. "My brother died of HIV, AIDS, drug abuse. So I knew way more about the disease, because I was living with it in my house.'' His brother, Gregory Thomas, died five years ago, Isiah said. "Magic acted and responded off some really bad information that he got,'' Thomas went on. "Whatever friendship we had, I thought it was bulls--- that he believed that. Let me put it to you this way: If he and I were such close friends, if I was questioning his sexuality, then I was questioning mine too. That's how idiotic it is.'' Source: SI.com

Okay. Enough of this he-said, he-said mess. Couldn't Magic Johnson have just gone to Isaiah Thomas years ago and told him how he felt? Did we really need to hear about this eons after it allegedly happened? I know that writing can be therapeutic, but dang. You want to build bridges, not tear them down.

Photo credit:  Magic Johnson and Isaiah Thomas, Andrew Bernstein/NBAE/Getty Images