JORDAN SHOULD SPEAK OUT MORE ON SOCIAL ISSUES, HODGES SAYS

Craig Hodges says that Chicago Bulls teammate Michael Jordan should use his influence more to call attention to social and political issues.

"You have the Bulls here, this black man there and the poverty, so it's all connected," Hodges said Thursday. "The poverty in this city is so hellish. The reason the poverty continues is because brothers like this are extracted out of the city."Hodges, who also has criticized Jordan in the past, said that Jordan's lack of response to last month's violence in Los Angeles was a typical maneuver to avoid controversy.

"When they came to Michael after the L.A. deal went down and asked him what he thought, his reply was that he wasn't really up on what was going on," Hodges said. "I can understand that, but at the same time, that's a bailout situation because you are bailing out when some heat is coming on you. We can't bail anymore.

"I'm not going to tell Michael what to do. At the same time, I cannot talk to young kids and not use Michael as an example of what is possible because he has so much and he has children in the palm of his hands."

Jordan, asked to respond to Hodges' comments, defended his community involvement.

"I know what I do," Jordan said. "I'm not going to make a public announcement for the things I do."