Rodney Hood is an American basketball player in the National Basketball Association, NBA who debuted his professional career with the Utah Jazz in 2014. Hood also played college basketball for both Mississippi State University and Duke University where he played as a freshman and in the second year respectively. The Small forward and shooting guard was traded to the Cleveland Cavaliers in 2018 where he is poised to have a good run of his career. As we watch him do that, let us find out more about him, his NBA contract, career stats, and injury status.
Rodney Hood Biography
Rodney Hood was born in Meridian, Mississippi, on October 20, 1992, to parents Ricky and Vicky Hood. His parents both played basketball at Mississippi State from 1978-1980 and are now working; his father as the director of the Boys and Girls Club of East Mississipi; and mother, as the principal at Newton High School. Hood grew up with his brother, Ricky Hood, Jr., and sister, Whitney who also played basketball at Chattanooga.
He attended the Meridian High School in his hometown where he played basketball with his peers. In all his games in high school, Hood averaged 46.9 points, 14.8 rebounds, with 10.8 assists in addition to guiding his school’s team to a 29-2 record and to the Class 6A championship.
Considered a five-star recruit by Rivals, No. 5 small forward and the No. 16 player in the nation, Rodney Hood committed to Mississipi State University (2011-2012). As a true freshman, he earned SEC All-Freshman Team and played in 32 games, averaging 10.3 points, 4.8 rebounds and 2.0 assists per game. His transfer to Duke University in July 2012 left him sitting out the 2012-13 season due to NCAA transfer rules.
But in his second year, from 2013-14, he quickly established himself as one of the top players on the team and earned second-team All-ACC honors. He played in 35 games, averaging 16.1 points, 3.9 rebounds and 2.1 assists per game. Rodney decided to forgo his final two years of college eligibility and queue up for the 2014 NBA draft.
NBA Career and Contract
The Utah Jazz selected Hood on June 26, 2014, with the 23rd overall pick in that year’s NBA draft. Months after signing his rookie scale contract with the franchise, on July 11, 2014, Hood delivered a season-best game. He helped the Jazz to their sixth straight victory with a 94–66 win against the Charlotte Hornets; he scored 24 points on 9-of-11 from the field and 5-of-5 from three-point range.
Rodney Hood solidified his position in the starting lineup at Jazz in the 2015-16 season as he started in all 79 games; 61 of which he made double digits and scored more than 20 points in 15 games. For this, he established himself as a go-to offensive option and proved to be quite a valuable asset for the team.
During Jazz’s victory match against the Memphis Grizzlies on January 2, 2016, Hood scored a career-high 32 points in the 92–87 overtime win. With his excellent shooting touch past the three-point line, he hit his first career game-winner on December 16, 2016. Within 0.8 seconds before game over, Hood stole the day’s victory for the Jazz in a 103–100 win against the Dallas Mavericks; he finished the game with 15 points.
The following season on January 13, 2017, he led his team to a 110–77 win over the Detroit Pistons to begin the year; with 27 points to his record. Three months later, his efforts garnered the team another victory; a 110–109 overtime win over the Sacramento Kings. Through the rest of the season, Hood lead the Jazz to two more victories; 104–89 win over the Dallas Mavericks on October 30 and 125–85 win over the Orlando Magic on November 18. In all, he scored a total of 56 points.
On February 8, 2018, Hood joined the Cleveland Cavaliers, after the team acquired him in a three-team trade that also involved two other teams – the Jazz and the Sacramento Kings. He reportedly signed a one-year contract worth $3.4 million.
He played his first game with the Cavaliers three days after the trade and had his first taste of victory with the team in a 121–99 win over the Boston Celtics; Hood recorded 15 points in the game. While the Cavaliers made it to the 2018 NBA Finals but lost to the Golden State Warriors, Hood re-signed with the Cavaliers on September 10, 2018.
The baller only wanted a short-term contract with the Cavaliers reportedly due to their unimpressive offer. His value in the open market dropped after coming off an unimpressive season in which he fell out of the rotation during the playoffs. Hood is expected to take the opportunity to fill in the offense in wake of LeBron James‘ departure.
Injury Stats
Rodney Hood was poised for the 2013 World University Games team when he suffered a foot injury in training camp. While awaiting full recovery, he missed a couple of weeks of workouts at Duke. According to Salt Lake Tribune, he was diagnosed with a bone bruise.
For all we know, there are no recent injury reports on the Shooting guard. He simply wants to earn big contracts and stay with the Cleveland Cavaliers for a long time.
