(670 The Score) On the latest episodes of "The Last Dance" documentary Sunday evening, Bulls legend Michael Jordan detailed why he stayed out of politics and wasn't an activist during his playing career.
"I do commend Muhammad Ali for standing up for what he believed in," Jordan said. "But I never thought of myself as an activist. I thought of myself as a basketball player.
"I wasn't a politician when I was playing my sport. I was focused on my craft. Was that selfish? Probably. But that was my energy. That's where my energy was."
Former Bulls teammate Craig Hodges was never shy about criticizing Jordan and other NBA players' lack of activism during his playing days, which lasted from 1982 to 1992. In fact, Hodges believes that it was why his Bulls and NBA tenure ended. After the Bulls -- coming off back-to-back championships -- waived him in 1992, Hodges never landed another NBA job or even a tryout. He later filed a lawsuit against the NBA accusing the league of blackballing him ''because of his outspoken political nature as an African-American man," as the New York Times reported in 1996.
To this day, Hodges still believes Jordan and the power brokers around him are off base and missing the point. Hodges was particularly irked by the new line of Air Jordan sneakers being released over the weekend, causing crowds in some places across America at a time when social distancing guidelines remain in place.
"I'm going to say this – MJ, wherever you're at and listening to this, you know me brother," Hodges said on 95.7 The Game in San Francisco on Wednesday. "What I'm speaking to is not Michael Jordan, Michael Jeffery Jordan. That ain't who I'm speaking to. I'm speaking to that power that lies beyond him – that's Hanes, Nike, all them cats, all them people. Where are the manufacturing jobs, Hanes, in America? Where are the manufacturing jobs, Nike, in America? Where are these manufacturing jobs at? What's happening?
"Consider this, brother. Let me show you something … Black brothers have killed other black brothers over a gym shoe. Now we're under a viral condition, supposed to be at the crib chilling and your shoe comes out now. And people lined up, none of them social distancing – 'I want to be the first one to get it.' And you can't negate that situation, mitigate it for a certain period of time? It is so important to get this bread right now. Just like it was important for you to get your shots up so your contract would be such even though you were underpaid as the most iconic superstar in the world. Now what do you become to black people? From the marketing perspective of those who empower and market you, and then you come out with this stuff at this period of time. I'm hot with it. I love you as a basketball player. I hate your timing in this. I hate your timing that you're not waking people up."
