In a new interview with Brandon “Scoop B” Robinson, the former Chicago Bulls sharpshooter Craig Hodges offered a rare, unfiltered look into life behind the scenes of the Jordan-era Bulls — and he made it clear: Michael Jordan wasn’t the enemy.
Hodges, a Chicago native and South Side product, didn’t flinch under Jordan’s notorious intensity in practice. Instead, he embraced it.
“For me, I used to love that shit,” Hodges told Robinson. “Lemme guard him!”
While others bristled under Jordan’s relentless approach, Hodges leaned into it. His method wasn’t to stop Jordan, but to disrupt the rhythm and force rotations. It was strategy rooted in experience — not ego.
But not everyone responded the same way. Hodges pointed to teammates like Horace Grant, who often bore the brunt of Jordan’s pressure, and explained how veteran players like himself, Bill Cartwright, and Cliff Levingston were there to stabilize the locker room.
“When he took it a little bit too far we’d be like, Yo Yo Yo! This ain’t your enemy,” Hodges said. “Back up off that man’s confidence.”
He called out the narrative that portrayed Bulls teammates as mere sidekicks — the so-called “Jordanares” — and emphasized the collective effort that went into building a dynasty.
“At the same time, don’t belittle us with that Michael Jordan and the Jordanares shit,” he said. “There’s nothing I can’t do without them.”
Hodges also highlighted what he felt Jordan could have done differently — particularly in nurturing young talent like Grant — and contrasted MJ’s leadership style with that of Kobe Bryant, whom Hodges coached during his stint with the Lakers.
“Kobe tried to bring his teammates with him,” Hodges noted. “They weren’t going to be Kobe great, but he tried to get them to their greatest.”
For Hodges, the measure of greatness isn’t individual numbers. It’s championships and teamwork.
“When you talking about that GOAT thing, what is the greatest team ever?” he asked. “Let’s deal with that.”
He gave his nod to Bill Russell and the Celtics, while crediting the Bulls teams under Phil Jackson as GOAT squads in their own right.
Reflecting on his era, Hodges sees it as the golden bridge between generations — facing legends like Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Larry Bird, playing alongside Jordan, and later coaching Bryant.
“I played in the greatest era of basketball,” he said.
And while he appreciates the evolution of the game, he still wonders how today’s stars would fare against the toughness of the past.
“I would love to see some of those Bad Boys teams go up against some of these teams,” he said.
