In the book, Hodges talks about conversations he had with teammates Jordan and Pippen about their lack of knowledge regarding Black history.
“I don’t bring this up to shame Scottie, Michael, and the other players who aren’t educated in our history,” Hodges writes. “I bring it up because we can’t solve a problem if we don’t recognize the sickness.”
Hodges says that he was trying to get his teammates, along with other players in the NBA, to understand the responsibility they had to the communities they came from, and that’s why nobody signed him. A Bulls team official, speaking anonymously to The New York Times in 1996, saw it differently. He believed nobody picked up the 32-year-old player’s contract “because he was on his last legs as a player.”
“The biggest thing I was trying to get out there was that the league had no business telling guys what to do with their time and their money,” Hodges says. “I wasn’t trying to get guys to do something out of the ordinary. I was trying to tell guys to take a look at the world around them. I wanted to change the condition of our people. To whom much is given, much is required.”
Even though it has been 25 years since he last played in the NBA, Hodges is more steadfast than ever in his belief that the NBA ostracized him due to his association with the Nation of Islam, and the Chicago Heights native believes that the league still holds a grudge against him that has impacted his son, Jibril, who was a standout guard at Long Beach State like his father and wasn’t invited to any pre-draft camps despite averaging 15 points per game.
“He’s earned the right to play on the highest level,” Hodges writes in the book. “Jibril was never invited to the pre-draft camps, like many of the sons of my former colleagues were.”
Hodges also believes the NBA changed the rules regarding the 3-point shootout during All-Star weekend to take his name out of the record books. In 2014, the league added the “moneyball” rack, in which Warriors guard Stephen Curry scored 27 points, which broke Hodges’ record for most points scored in a round (25). Hodges still holds the record most consecutive shots made (19). The 2016 winner Klay Thompson, Curry’s backcourt mate, tied the record for most points in any round. Thompson’s performance in Toronto that day put Hodges into a three-way tie for second with Jason Kapono and the 2017 winner Rockets guard Eric Gordon, who tied Hodges’ record of the most points scored in the first round (25).
“Your political beliefs shouldn’t be taken into consideration. What I did during that All-Star weekend stood the test of time and it continues to,” Hodges says. “You put a whole rack of moneyballs so somebody might be able to break my record. I look at what Steph Curry did and all that stuff is with an asterisk. It’s like when brothers were hitting home runs but couldn’t play in the Major Leagues. When players speak out, it has to happen that way.”
Today, Hodges, who coaches basketball at his high school alma mater, Rich East High School in Park Forest, Illinois, says that he is inspired by the current group of activist athletes who don’t have the trepidation many of his colleagues had when he played.
“Social media allows these guys to spin their stories the way they want without having to go through the mainstream media to do it,” he says. “I’m glad for that. When you look at Colin Kaepernick’s situation, he has support through social media. Timing is critical. Poverty, homelessness… that doesn’t wait for someone to say, ‘Well, let me take my time.’ When these moments come up during our careers, they need to be addressed at that moment. Don’t wait until your career is over and your visibility is diminished.”
When Hodges sees athletes from different walks of life speaking out on social issues, he says that he feels validated. He loves that today’s generation doesn’t “stick to sports,” like many fans and pundits have suggested.
“We’re more than one-dimensional people, and politics affects everyone. Right now, you have a group of athletes who have been educated to a lot of things. They’ve studied and that has brought them to speak up on a lot of things,” Hodges says. “They know this is a thankless job and no one is going to give them accolades. They know that they are fighting a historic battle.”
Article Appeared @http://www.rollingstone.com/sports/features/craig-hodges-and-the-modern-activist-athlete-w472667