Isiah Thomas Holds Up Crying Jordan Sign after Indiana Beats UNC

Isiah Thomas, of all people, held up a giant Crying Jordan photo Wednesday night in Bloomington as No. 13 Indiana hosted and upset No. 3 North Carolina, 76-67. Oh what sweet, delicious irony.

Thomas, of course, is one of the biggest front office failures of recent NBA history. He killed off an entire basketball league. Everyone knows what he did to the Knicks, from the embarrassing losing to, much worse, having a jury find that he had sexually harassed a team executive. He was later fired at Florida International University.

But did you know Thomas had also had a feud of sorts with Jordan during their playing days? There were the rugged Pistons-Bulls series of the 1980’s. Lore has it that Thomas orchestrated a freeze out of Jordan during an All-Star Game in 1985. It’s long been rumored that Jordan kept Thomas off the 1992 Dream Team, which is based in truth and grandeur.

So was it just coincidence and in good humor that Thomas held up that sign at a game between their alma maters?

“There were two girls sitting behind me, two IU students, and one of them handed it to me,” Thomas told ESPN. “I knew the crowd would go crazy — and they did when I held it up.”

Thomas says he and Jordan now have a “friendly” relationship.

“I love just being a fan,” he said in that same interview. “It was fun.”

OK, then. Sure. Just Isiah Thomas having some fun.