Protesting social injustices have become the norm this NBA season, but that hasn’t always been the case.
Former Chicago Bulls player Craig Hodges told CBS Sports in an interview on Sunday that he brought up the idea of protesting during the ’91 NBA Finals over the Rodney King beating, but he was “dismissed” as radical.
The Finals took place just months after police officers were videotaped beating King, and Hodges approached teammate Michael Jordan and playoff opponent Magic Johnson, who was on the Los Angeles Lakers at the time about standing up for social injustice; neither player was interested in protesting.
Hodges suggested they sit out the opening game of the playoffs, standing in “solidarity with the Black community.”
“I knew the answer before I went to them. What’s funny to me, is how quick they dismissed it,” Hodges said. “Both conversations lasted less than two minutes. Magic was coming on the court the day before the first game, and I asked him about it, and he tells me, ‘It’s too extreme.’ I already discussed it with Mike in the locker room, and he tells me, ‘Man, that’s wild, man.’ So it’s not anything I haven’t faced before.”
Following the decision not to protest, Hodges openly criticized Jordan for not taking a stance against social issues, which Hodges attributes as the reason his NBA career was cut short. He was let go by the Bulls after the 1991-92 season.
The officers who brutally beat King were acquitted in 1992, leading to the Los Angeles riots.
