Long Shot: The Triumphs and Struggle of an NBA Freedom Fighter

(Paperback)

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Description

There has been a reawakening among professional and collegiate sportspersons from LeBron James to the Missouri University football team, who are now choosing to use their platform as athletes to call attention to racial injustice.

Long Shot, shares the history of political Black athlete through the first hand experience of one of its most courageous ambassadors.

Hodge shares the impact of speaking out and standing up against racism and economic inequality while in the NBA.

Hodges is a sports icon known around the world.

The letter Hodges delivered to George Bush at the White House ranks amongst the most significant political acts by a professional athlete in sports history.

The book shares other stories including: how Craig took R Kelly off the streets and paved the way for his success; what it was like winning championships with Michael Jordan and the Bulls during the golden age of basketball; his relationship with Louis Farrakhan and the Nation of Islam, his time with Correta Scott King and Nelson Mandela, how he dealt with his wife nearly lighting him on fire, the secrets of being one of the world's best thee-point shooters, and more.

Reviews

Long Shot tracks Hodgess political awakening, from black-studies courses in college to his early run-ins with Donald Sterling, the notoriously racist owner of the San Diego (and later Los Angeles) Clippers. The trajectory is clear, and, despite the occasionally engrossing glimpse into the typical N.B.A. players home lifeHodgess tumult involved R. Kellyalmost every detail is shared as context for his more radical turn in the late eighties and nineties.New Yorker "Hodges has told his compelling life story with fiery passion, looping around a cast of characters stretching from Jordan, Magic Johnson and Phil Jackson back to Muhammad Ali, Arthur Ashe and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, before returning to the present."Guardian In the book, Hodges talks about conversations he had with teammates Jordan and Pippen about their lack of knowledge regarding Black history. I don't bring this up to shame Scottie, Michael, and the other players who aren't educated in our history, Hodges writes. I bring it up because we can't solve a problem if we don't recognize the sickness.Rolling Stone Craig has written a very in depth portrait of his struggles and triumphs in the NBA and beyond.Kareem Abdul-Jabbar "The people's champion."Chuck D "A skillfully told, affecting memoir of sports and social activism."Kirkus "With its sharp observations about Michael Jordan, Charles Barkley, and the state of race relations in the NBA, Long Shot is likely to cause a stir."Chicago Reader Craig Hodges is someone I looked up to as a child & now as an adultI read Long Shot in like two hours, I couldnt stop turning pages. There are so many hooks in it."Jesse Williams "Long Shot is a beautifully written, brutally honest book. If you loved the Michael Jordan-era Chicago Bulls, if you love black history, or if you are fascinated by the politics of sports, I highly recommend this book. Simply put: Craig Hodges life is incredible and Long Shot is invaluable."AETHLON: The Journal of Sport Literature "It is time to remove Craig Hodges from exile status and place him where he has always belonged: on the short-list of the activist athletes who stood tall, paid the price and now live their life perhaps scarred, but without regrets. Read this book so a new generation of NBA players and fans will know his true story. Read this book so to say not in a whisper but with a confident shout, 'You DO want to be like Craig Hodges.'Dave Zirin, from the Introduction This riveting and affirmative read offers a revealing and pertinent insight into the odious nature of corporate-driven politics in the US and the consequences of racism, poverty, homelessness and despair it engenders. And, as a candid glimpse behind the scenes of the US basketball industry, its an eye-opener and many a nugget make it a diverting read. A singular lesson of history in the making.Michal Boncza, Morning Star

Author Bio

Craig Hodges played in the NBA for ten seasons, in which he led the league in three-point shooting percentage three times. He won two NBA championships with the Chicago Bulls in 1991 and 1992, and is a three-time Three Point Contest champion at All-Star weekend. Rory Fanning walked across the United States for the Pat Tillman Foundation in 20082009, following two deployments to Afghanistan with the 2nd Army Ranger Battalion. He is the author of Worth Fighting For: An Army Ranger's Journey Out of the Military. Dave Zirin is the sports editor for the Nation and the author of Game Over: How Politics Has Turned the Sports World Upside Down. Named one of UTNE Readers Fifty Visionaries Who Are Changing Our World, Zirin is a frequent guest on MSNBC, ESPN, and Democracy Now! He hosts WPFW's The Collision with Etan Thomas and has been called "the best sportswriter in the United States," by Robert Lipsyte.