Craig Hodges was a sharpshooting guard for the Chicago Bulls from 1988 to 1992. He’s famously tied with Larry Bird for the most three-point contests won by a player with three.
Related: Gary Payton on Michael Jordan’s laugh in The Last Dance: “I wouldn’t respect him if he said I stopped him.”
Hodges recently made an appearance on the All The Smoke podcast and told a unique story about Michael Jordan.
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“We go to shootaround, and we leave shootaround, and we’re on the bus, and MJ is like, ‘Man, drop me off here’ and dropped him at the bar and said he gonna have some beers,” Hodges said.
“He tells us to pick him up on the way back to the game. We pick him up. He still got his sweats on. And you know MJ come to the game suited and booted.
“‘Yeah man, I’m feeling good’. He was bubbly. I can smell the beer on him. Got 30 at the half. Going through warmups, ‘Man, I’m seeing three rims. I’mma shoot at the one in the middle.'”
Michael Jordan was seeing TRIPLE ????
ALL THE SMOKE with former Chicago Bull Craig Hodges is available on YouTube! pic.twitter.com/1enWyG2njh
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) May 1, 2025
Hodges won two titles with the Bulls in 1991 and 1992, but was eventually cut from the team and never played in the NBA again. The reason, according to Hodges, stems from his 1991 visit to the White House.
The champion Bulls met then-President George H.W. Bush. Hodges, who was not afraid to speak his mind on civil rights issues, showed up wearing a white dashiki and Muslim kufi hat.
He also gave a note that asked the President to be more active in resolving issues facing poor and minority communities, to Bush’s press secretary Marlin Fitzwater.
“The next season I went from eighth on the team in minutes played and scoring to last,” Hodges explained.
NBA Champion to blackballed out of the league.
Craig Hodges details the fallout from his trip to the White House & letter to George H.W. Bush.
ALL THE SMOKE with the former Chicago Bull is now available on YouTube! pic.twitter.com/fKOEFrLUbJ
— All the Smoke (@allthesmokeprod) May 1, 2025
It’s a shame the Bulls and NBA blackballed Hodges for seeking change in America. In today’s league, Hodges would be celebrated for his activism, but unfortunately, things were different in the ’90s.
