Exclusive: Lakers’ D’Moi Hodge reflects on being first NBA player from home country – ClutchPoints

There can be a lot of pressure that comes with being the first player from your home country to make it to the NBA. Such is the reality for Los Angeles Lakers rookie guard D’Moi Hodge. When the Lakers signed him to a two-way contract ahead of NBA Summer League, Hodge became the first NBA player from the British Virgin Islands.

It wasn’t always easy for Hodge; when he first arrived in the Untied States to play high school basketball, he ended up returning home after a year. He ultimately came back though and played basketball at Faith Baptist Christian Academy in Georgia as he understood that in order to achieve his dream of playing basketball at the highest level, he needed to make that move.

Now, as he reflects on his journey, Hodge is proud of being able to represent his country in a big way.

“It means a lot. There’s a lot of weight with everybody looking up to me and stuff, but it’s definitely fun to show that it’s not impossible,” Hodge told ClutchPoints. “It definitely feels good to be the first one to show that. There’s more like me over there and I’m gonna give everybody that hope.”

As a rookie with the Lakers, D’Moi Hodge faces an uphill battle in trying to earn playing time. But a little adversity is nothing he hasn’t seen before. Hodge didn’t have any major college offers coming out of high school. His only offers came from junior colleges. He initially committed to New Mexico Junior College, but after a coaching change and a redshirt year, he transferred to another junior college, the State College of Florida.

Hodge flourished at State College of Florida. He became a Junior College All-American during his two seasons with the Manatees and was considered one of the best JuCo players in the country. During his All-American season he averaged 25.2 points per game, 5.1 assists and 2.7 steals. He was able to turn his performance into NCAA Division 1 offers and ultimately committed to Cleveland State.

He spent one season at Cleveland State before finishing his college career at Missouri. Many basketball players view junior college almost like a demotion, but Hodge never looked at it like that. To him, it was just the next stop in what had been a grind to that point.

“Coming from a small island, I never got nothing handed to me. I always felt like no matter where you go, people are gonna find you, coaches are going to find you. My journey was always different. Going to JuCo was never about me going D1 or going to the NBA,” Hodge said. “If that’s the route I got to take, if that’s the level I got to play on, just go there and do my best and try to achieve more. . .You just got to show people who are not looking at you and open their eyes. That was was my mentality going to JuCo. I got to go on a longer journey to show that I’m one of them ones.”

When D’Moi Hodge was at Missouri, he emerged as one of the best defensive players in the country. In 2022 he was named to the Horizon League All-Defensive Team as well as taking home the Horizon League Defensive Player of the Year honors. And it was his defensive ability that really stood out during his stint with the Lakers during Summer League.

Undrafted two-way guard D’Moi Hodge closed Summer League in terrific fashion for the Los Angeles Lakers, putting up 23 PTS on 7/11 shooting from 3PT while swiping 5 STL, 5 REB & 3 AST. Shot 40% from 3PT in SL on 7 attempts per game while bringing significant defensive intensity. pic.twitter.com/hbYsNwKT0b

— League Him (@League_Him) July 17, 2023

During his college days, Hodge averaged 2.2 steals with a career-high of 2.6 during his final season at Missouri. Throughout the course of five games in Las Vegas, Hodge averaged 1.8 steals while showing incredible on ball defensive pressure. He’s shown that same defensive intensity while being assigned to the Lakers G League affiliate, the South Bay Lakers.

To earn NBA minutes, players need to stand out in some way aside from just scoring. The defensive side of the court is where D’Moi Hodge can make an immediate impact with the Lakers.

What a sequence from D’Moi Hodge pic.twitter.com/qg2WSRDte7

— Alex Regla (@AlexmRegla) July 11, 2023

“Just being intense, just being smart with the defense. Knowing personnel and knowing who likes to do what and trying to play off them,” Hodge said. “It’ just trying to speed people up a lot and trying to make them think more than just getting easy buckets. It’s definitely just having fun out there and doing what I do and using my strengths.”

On a two-way contract, D’Moi Hodge is going to spend most of his time with the Lakers in the G League this season. He’s gotten into three NBA games so far before the G League season started and he scored his first NBA bucket against the Houston Rockets on Nov. 8 off a three-point shot.

Tonight, D’Moi Hodge hit his first @nba bucket.
He is officially the first BVI player in NBA history 🇻🇬@Lakers x @Dmoi_VI pic.twitter.com/ds3tWGJ18l

— South Bay Lakers (@SouthBayLakers) November 9, 2023

He’s been assigned to South Bay now as the G League is in its Showcase Cup phase. His defense is still his calling card as he’s averaged 1.3 steals in four games with South Bay so far. His shooting hasn’t quite caught up yet; he’s shooting 20.8 percent from three-point range compared to the 40 percent he shot during NBA Summer League. It may take a little while to get adjusted to the NBA game, but Hodge is confident he’ll get there.

“I’ve got to adjust to the speed, the tempo and one other thing is mentality-wise,” Hodge said. “I started my whole career in college and then coming off the bench now, it’s just being mentally prepared to do that. Just coming in the game, being active and showing I’m ready no matter what. That’s the biggest thing for me right now, just adjusting to be mentally stronger as far as knowing I’m coming off the bench, playing less minutes, I still got to give all I got and be productive in the minutes I get.”

While Hodge might not get much playing time with the Lakers this season, he will get the opportunity to get live game reps while with South Bay in the G League. On a two-way contract, he’s limited to only 50 NBA games. The rest of the time he’ll get valuable development rather than just sitting on the bench every night.

In a way, he kind of feels like he’s back at the beginning of his journey, back in junior college trying to prove himself all over again.

“I always want to be great and get better and learn as much as I can,” Hodge said. “I feel like I can play a lot of years in the NBA, so just using this as a stepping stone. I feel like this is like my going to JuCo, I’m starting over with my journey. This is what I got to do to get to where I want to go. I’m just trying to be the best I can be at this level.”