From Player to Politician (Part 1)
After a career in sports, most retired players like to have a calm relaxing, life with their families, expensive sports and luxury cars, and a beach house in Cancun. However, some just can’t seem to stay out of the public eye, with some sports figures maintaining
their public image through politics. In this article, we’ll take a look at some prominent sports figures that went from players to politicians.
First on our list of players-turned-politicians comes from the NBA. Christen Guilford Dudley, more commonly known as Chris Dudley was best known as an ex-NBA player, who played 886 games in 16 years. He played for five different teams, including the Cleveland
Cavaliers when he joined the NBA in 1988, and most recently the Phoenix Suns, for whom he played at the time of retirement, in the 2000-2001 season. He played as a center and was best known for his defense skills as a shot blocker and rebounder. However, Dudley
is now known as a Republican nominee for the Oregon State Governor, and will be running in the 2010 Oregon gubernatorial election, in which he will face former governor John Kitzhaber.
Shawn Bradley was a NBA player for the Philadelphia 76ers, known for his height, at 7 feet 6 inches, and as a great shot blocker. He averaged 3.5 blocks per game, and played in the NBA for 12 years, from 1993 to 2005 for the 76ers, New Jersey Nets, and Dallas
Mavericks. Bradley was the second pick in the NBA Draft in 1993, after leading his university team to an NCAA victory with a record breaking 14 blocked shots, which was broken the next season by Shaquille O’Neal. However, all of that aside, Bradley is now
running as a Republican in the 2010 General Election, for the Utah seat in the House of Representatives.
Bill Bradley was drafted by the New York Nicks in 1965 and played as a forward for ten years with them. In that time, he helped the Nicks win two NBA championships, as well as making it to an All-Star Game. He retired from the NBA in 1977, and was inducted
into the Basketball Hall of Fame, five years later in 1982. His number, 24, was retired by the Nicks in his honor. After retiring from basketball, Bradley progressed in his interest in politics, by running for Senate in 1977 as a Democrat. He remained Senator
until 1997, and ran for Democratic presidential nomination in 2000 against Al Gore. He withdrew his campaign in March of 2000 after failing to win any primaries or caucuses and endorsed the winning Democratic nominee, Gore.
J. C. Watts played for the Oklahoma Sooners in 1979, while seeking a bachelor’s degree in journalism in the University of Oklahoma. He led the Sooners to two Orange Bowl victories in 1958 and 1959, as starting quarterback. But then he decided that sports
weren’t for him and campaigned to run for the U.S. House of Representatives in 1994. After a long, hard election, Watts won the primary against Ed Apple with a 49% margin, while Apple had a close 48%. He then won the run-off election in September with a 52%
vote and held his position as Oklahoma’s House of Representatives member from January 3, 1995 until January 3, 2003, a period of eight years.
Whoever would have thought that an NBA player would go on to become the first African American mayor of Sacramento, California? Well, nobody did, but Kevin Johnson, more commonly known as K.J, did just that. Johnson was first drafted to the Cleveland Cavaliers
in the 1987 NBA Draft in the first round, pick 7. But spending a lot of time on the bench motivated Johnson to move to the Phoenix Suns in 1988 until 1998, and then again in 2000. He was named the NBA’s Most Improved Player in 1989, and was an NBA All-Star
three times. However, after retiring for the second time in 2000, Johnson ran for the mayor’s office in Sacramento as a Democrat and won, making him the first African American, and 55th, Mayor of Sacramento.
Other players who went on to become famous politicians will be discussed in the next articles.
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