Former NBA guard Craig Hodges, regarded as one of the league’s premier three-point shooters before Steph Curry, painfully understands his career is defined more by a letter he wrote than his ability to knock down shots.
As a star reserve with the Chicago Bulls, Hodges joined his teammates in 1991 for a visit to the White House to celebrate the Bulls’ first NBA Championship with President George H.W. Bush. Hodges, an outspoken advocate for social justice and civil rights during his 10-year NBA career, viewed the trip as an opportunity.
Near the end of the celebration, Hodges, dressed in a white dashiki and Muslim kufi hat, gave an envelope to Bush’s press secretary Marlin Fitzwater. The envelope contained an eight-page letter addressed to Bush, a letter Hodges had written to ask the president to be more active in resolving issues facing “poor and minority communities” around the country.
“The next season I went from eighth on the team in minutes played and scoring to last,” Hodges told former NBA players Matt Barnes and Stephen Jackson in a recent appearance on their All The Smoke podcast.
An excerpt from Hodges’ letter to President Bush that appeared in a story on the Basketball Network website in 2023:
“Mr. President,
“I’ve taken on the responsibility to speak on behalf of those who are not able to be heard from where they are. We have a sector of our population that is being described
as an ‘endangered species’, i.e. the young black man.”
“The question must be asked, ‘Why is the condition of the inner cities around the country in a state of emergency because of wanton violence, lack of jobs, or drugs.”
“It is very important that the citizens of this great nation make a determination on what side of history we will be on in this most critical hour.”
The fallout from Hodges’ letter to President Bush added to concerns people in the NBA were having about Hodges and his willingness to speak out against injustices. Before Game 1 of the Bulls-Los Angeles Lakers NBA Finals in 1991, Hodges tried to organize players from both teams to boycott the game in response to the infamous Rodney King beating three months earlier by four Los Angeles Police Department officers.
Less than a month after the Bulls beat Portland to win their second NBA title in 1992, the Bulls waived Hodges. He never appeared in another NBA game – despite his reputation as being one of the game’s best outside shooters.
Hodges, a career 40 percent three-point shooter, won three consecutive Three-Point Shooting contests during All-Star Weekend. He led the NBA in three-point shooting percentage in 1985-86 and 1987-88.
“When I write a letter to the president at age 32, I can’t get an agent to represent me in a union that’s supposed to represent us,” Hodges, now 64, said in reference to the way his career declined. “I can’t get a job. What did I do? I never missed a bus. I was never fined during my career. I was a player rep for every team I played with. Where is the badness in that? The narrative was me having the audacity to write a letter to the president.”
When the Bulls released Hodges, he believed he could still help a team in need of outside scoring. As Hodges looked back on his career, he recalled how a shot he attempted during the Bulls’ White House visit might have also contributed to his exit from the league.
President Bush invited Hodges to take a shot while the team and dignitaries were standing on a miniature basketball court in the backyard of the White House. Hodges was the only Bulls player not dressed in a suit. The photo opp did not generate the kind of hype Hodges would have liked.
“That shot cost me $50 million at least,” Hodges said.