In 1992, Craig Hodges was in a tough situation, fighting for his job in the NBA on the one hand and fighting on a clause on another. This case is very similar to the Colin Kaepernick outbreak with the NFL. Craig is an underexposed player of the Michael Jordan Bulls, but he did a major job for his team. He was in Chicago Bulls from 1988-1992 for four seasons and played alongside Michael Jordan. He was not a good huge scorer but was very good at the three-ball. So, What Happened To Craig Hodges?
In his career, Craig hit a stellar mark in 3-pointers, shooting at a forty percent clip. He was a major player in the team of Bulls, but after the 1992 finals, he was removed from the team the next season and was never seen playing in the NBA. Craig believes that he was blackballed from the game, which was very similar to what happened with Colin Kaepernick in the NFL.
Craig’s story from 1992
Craig is a firm believer in social causes and is also a major activist. His top game was the finals of 1991. The Bulls desired to protest the first game against the Los Angeles Lakers, which was the first game of the finals, by sitting out of the game. Hodges wished to protest the killing of an African American protestor who was harshly murdered by the cops in Los Angeles, Rodney King. He was the victim of the cop cruelty, and Craig wanted to bring awareness to the mishappening by sitting with other players.
To make it all work, he needed support from other players, so he decided to go to Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan immediately, as they were the biggest players at that moment, but unfortunately, he did not get the supports he was looking for. In an interview with CBS Sports, Craig told that he already knew their answers before going to them, and it was funny how quickly both of them dismissed them.
Conversation with both of them only lasted for a few minutes. Johnson was coming to the court before their first game, and he discussed it with him, to which Johnson replied that it was too extreme. He has already discussed everything with Mike, and he also felt it was too wild. It is not something that he has not faced before.
Craig was never seen on the basketball court again and filed a $40 million suit against NBA and all the teams, mentioning that he was blackballed from the NBA. After the league finals, the team, the Bulls, was called to the White House, and Craig did everything in his power to create some awareness. He sported the Dashiki, traditional African dress in the ceremony, and also wrote a letter to George Bush, President. In the letters, he wrote about the mistreatment that African Americans saw in their lives.
Craig’s story is very similar to Colin Kaepernick
Craig’s main problem with the league was that mainstream black players who had major influence were not using their means and platforms to do more good and create awareness about the ongoing issue. Things have definitely changed now when it comes to creating awareness. In 2016 Colin began kneeling during the national anthem, creating a huge wave of kneeling protestors all across the nation that still happens now.
Colin faced much resistance; Donald Trump, President at that time, spoke against him and asked Colin to get fired. As a result, Colin did not get many chances to play in the upcoming seasons. Very quickly, he was out of the playing the games and never got to a new team, which led Colin to file a lawsuit of blackballing against the NFL.
But NBA players have pushed other movements that have worked, as noted by Craig. Players have got together for the 2020 shootings and even left games that Hodges wanted to do back in the day for the murders of Jacob Blake and George Floyd.
Hodges told that it was very beautiful to him, and he felt the ancestors were smiling looking at all of this. He added that our young brothers have some backbone; he already knew that women had backbone because they have been seen doing all this and walking away from this, which is not an issue.
