Ex-NBA Player Strongly Debunks Michael Jordan All-Star Game "Freeze Out"

Shandel Richardson | Apr 12, 2025

Nov 28, 1986; USA; Los Angeles, CA, USA; FILE PHOTO; Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan (23) in action against the Los Angeles Lakers at The Forum. Mandatory Credit: Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images / Malcolm Emmons-Imagn Images

One of the great NBA stories came from the 1985 All-Star Game in Indianapolis.

Legend has it the older players, led by Detroit Pistons star Isiah Thomas, decided to "freeze out" Chicago Bulls rookie Michael Jordan. The story was told so often many just took it as fact.

Or was it?

NBA reporter Brandon "Scoop B" Robinson recently completed a mini-documentary called "The Freeze Out" to find the truth. After speaking to some of the participants in the game, it seems the story was more myth.

"I don’t know where that rumor came from, but I didn’t see anything like that happen to my knowledge,” former NBA All-Star Michael Ray Richardson said.

It was the supposed beginning of the feud between Jordan and Thomas, which still exists today. The Pistons were the roadblock standing in front of the Bulls for so many years before Jordan finally broke through in 1991.

Still, Richardson maintains there was no animosity toward Jordan in 1985.

"I thought that they were pretty cordial and cool, you know what I mean?” Richardson said of Jordan and Thomas. “It wasn’t like there was a problem or they had a grudge or something. Now for as far as holding the ball from Michael Jordan, I never seen it.”

MORE BACK IN THE DAY COVERAGE

SHAQUILLE O'NEAL BASHES NEW GENERATION OF PLAYERS

MAGIC JOHNSON UPLIFTS CALIFORNIA WILDFIRE VICTIMS

ISIAH THOMAS CALLS OUT LEBRON JAMES

Shandel Richardson is the publisher of Back In The Day Hoops On SI. He can be reached at shandelrich@gmail.com

Follow our coverage on Facebook

X: @BackInTheDayNBA