Free Republic

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...

A day after scoring 39 points against Portland, Michael Jordan took a different sort of shot this afternoon -- from one of his teammates. Craig Hodges, the Bulls' 3-point shooting specialist and one of the league's best, chided Jordan and other National Basketball Association players for failing to use their visibility to call attention to pressing social and political issues, from the deepening plight of inner-city youth to the failure of owners to hire more black head coaches. Hodges spoke after the other Bulls had left practice for the day, and Jordan could not be reached for comment. The 31-year-old...