Craig Hodges Says He Tried to Convince Michael Jordan to Boycott Finals Game

Adam Wells @adamwells1985Featured ColumnistApril 20, 2017

Chicago Bulls guard Michael Jordan (23) hustles downcourt on defense during an exhibition game against the Philadelphia 76ers on Friday, Oct. 24, 1997, at the Dean Smith Center in Chapel Hill, N.C. Jordan finished with 18 points and five assists in 24 minutes as the Bulls defeated the Sixers 113-101. (AP Photo/Karl DeBlaker)

KARL DEBLAKER/Associated Press

Former NBA guard Craig Hodges wanted Michael Jordan and Magic Johnson to boycott an NBA Finals game between the Chicago Bulls and Los Angeles Lakers in 1991.

Per Donald McRae of the Guardian, Hodges wrote in his new book he wanted Jordan and Johnson to sit out Game 1 in response to Rodney King being beaten by members of the Los Angeles Police Department a few months earlier.

Hodges said Jordan believed the idea of boycotting the game was "crazy" and added Jordan "didn’t speak out largely because he didn’t know what to say – not because he was a bad person.”

Playing 10 NBA seasons with the Bulls, San Diego Clippers, Milwaukee Bucks and Phoenix Suns, Hodges was a lights-out shooter who led the league in three-point field goal percentage twice. He won two NBA titles with the Bulls in 1991 and 1992.

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