On Thursday, eight-year NBA veteran Rodney Hood announced his retirement from the league, per ESPN’s Dave McMenamin.
Rodney Hood told ESPN he is retiring after 8 seasons in the NBA with UTA, CLE, POR, TOR, MIL and LAC. The 6-8 guard/forward made a comeback attempt with the Memphis Hustle in the G League last season before another injury told him it was time. pic.twitter.com/N7Ty7KR1fv
— Dave McMenamin (@mcten) November 21, 2024
The former first round pick is one of 10 players to announce their retirement since last season. He joins a list that includes: Derrick Rose, Kemba Walker, Rudy Gay, Gordon Hayward, Danny Green, DJ Augustin, John Henson, Jeremy Lamb, AJ Griffin, and Kyle Guy. If counting DeMarcus Cousins and Ricky Rubio, who retired at the beginning of the calendar year, that makes Hood the 13th retiree.
Of note, Hayward and Rubio were former teammates of Hood with the Utah Jazz. He played alongside Rose with the Cleveland Cavaliers.
Former Jazz, Cavs Standout Rodney Hood 13th Player To Retire Since 2023-24
Hood had several stellar moments throughout his NBA career, namely for the Jazz and Cavs.
His style was relatively unorthodox with his herky-jerky movements, but he was a more than capable scorer and defender. However, after an injury limited him to 20 games with the Portland Trail Blazers in 2019-20, his career was on the ropes.
Even though Hood had rose to the occasion in Portland in the 2019 NBA Playoffs, he had already been tagged with the ‘injury prone’ label by the time Utah traded him to Cleveland. In his Cavs tenure, he actually been generally healthy, playing in 83 of 103 possible games (postseason included). Nonetheless, his injuries were often untimely, which added to the sense that he couldn’t be counted on.
After brief stints with the Toronto Raptors (17 games), Milwaukee Bucks (39 games), and Los Angeles Clippers (13), it seemed like the lefty’s luck had run out. Then, while playing for the G League’s Memphis Hustle in 2023-24, Hood sustained an injury that shut the door on his comeback attempt.
Giving Him His Flowers
For a player who was climbing Jacob’s Ladder in Utah, this had to be a bitter ending to his basketball journey. Regardless of that though, Hood deserves his flowers.
He finished his career averaging 10.4 points per game on 36.6 percent shooting from three. He had his best season in 2017-18, scoring a career-high 14.7 points per game. Yet, he was averaging 16.8 points per game prior to being traded. Keep in mind that, that season, Donovan Mitchell was averaging 20.5 points per game for the Jazz.
Hood may not have reached the heights that he wanted or believed he could. However, he was much closer to stardom than many people know.
