Larry Hughes.

Earlier this evening I was watching "Real NBA" on NBA TV when a clip of an old Celtics/Bulls game came on, showing Larry Hughes among other people. Until that moment I had forgotten all about him entirely. However, this is not because I don't like him, because I do. I like him a lot. To the point that I even own his jersey and last season wore it proudly to many Bulls games. And though I may be the only one in the world who feels this way (and may now get hate mail due to this confession), I am sticking to my guns. Larry Hughes IS a good player and should be given more respect than he is.

Why is he so disliked though? And why doesn't anyone respect him? Hughes has played for a handful of teams (the 76ers, the Golden State Warriors, the Wizards, the Cavs, the Bulls and now the Knicks), with a variety of players, under multiple coaches. Aka, he has experience. Quite a bit of it. He was the 8th overall draft pick in 1998, which is not number one but is certainly not half bad either. And he even came in second to Lebron James in stats while playing with the Cavs (before his string of injuries). All this seems pretty impressive, or at least should not lead anyone to hate him.

So if its not his stats or skill, is it his personality? At Saint Louis University, where he played before getting drafted, he was named Freshman of the Year. In 2006, he was also awarded the Austin Carr "Good Guy Award", which recognized Hughes to be cooperative on the court and understanding in dealing with the media, community and the public in general. Though he ran into some problems while on the Bulls, mainly with Coach Vinny Del Negro (no details are really known), before that he seemed to be pretty well liked and mostly stayed out of trouble. True he made it public that he doesn't like sitting on the sidelines and not getting in his minutes, but lets be honest, what NBA player DOES? To me, there is no solid reason to dislike Hughes and it baffles me that he is so disrespected in the basketball world, especially when he was once decently popular.

Maybe his move to the Knicks will let him gain back some deserved respect and show the public that hes a player worth keeping around and worth even liking. But if nothing basketball related will allow you to change your mind on him, here are some fun facts: Larry was in Rick Ross' "Here I Am" music video (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yRKtBgkn17U), Larry has a wide array of tattoos, some of which are dedicated to his deceased brother (including the tear drops on his face), and Larry has quite a car collection (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9-yHvkGu0fg).

But really things like this, http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rea_jClNnEg, should be enough to stop hating on him and start taking him a little more seriously. Come on people, say it with me, I love Larry Hughes...