Larry Hughes: I don't mind losing

by YaoPau on Mar 3, 2008 8:56 PM CST

-Here is what Larry Hughes said to me and Lisa Salters from ABC before the game. Lisa couldn't believe it and made sure he knew what he was saying. Here it is:

"I play to enjoy myself, some people take this the wrong way, but winning a championship is not what I base everything on. I was given an opportunity to play basketball, travel around and have fun doing it and that's what I want to do. I wouldn't take being unhappy and not being myself and winning.

I would rather enjoy myself with 18,000-20,000 people watching the game and the people sending fan mail and those things and be happy...I didn't come here to play the point guard, that's just it. I came here to run the wing, just like he was running the other wing. I was asked to sacrifice for the team to win and for everybody, I guess, get paid. That is what was told to me and I wasn't happy with that."

Can we start benching him in 4th quarters now, please?

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HAHA

In a sense i think its sort of cool he said that, If i was a fan of another team I mean. Or if he was my favorite player. I do understand that he probably does try hard all the time, what good is fan mail if you suck huh? But like you said, he probably shouldnt belong in the 4th quarter anymore. I mean he may be trying to play his best basketball, but that doesnt mean hes trying to win. Its a wierd thought, i didnt think guys that were in the nba had this thought. I mean i used to have this thought until i started getting better at basketball and began playing with players better then me...

This is a cool statement, but alas, it doesnt help a struggling team.

Kirk Hinrich. The Best White American Point Guard in the NBA.

by piccolomair on Mar 3, 2008 9:08 PM CST reply actions

how dare Larry Hughes

disrespect the dunk contest.

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Mar 3, 2008 9:09 PM CST reply actions

I think

folks read too much in this. Hughes is at least honest. He basically is saying he'd rather play his game than force himself into a situation where he's playing against his strengths and becomes a hated man for the team (Cleveland) that signed him a big contract.

I'm still not the biggest Hughes fan, he is a chucker at times, but has been decent at hitting those shots. Still he seems awfully me-first....

But he does have some skills and is far better than the other me first guy we had a few years ago (Jalen Rose). Rose might have been a more consistent scorer, but Hughes has the defense and is a bit more versatile.

I wonder if you polled the entire NBA and their comments would remain anonymous how many would say they play for themselves first (I'd say it's in the 95%).

Dwight Howard was just getting yelled at by SVG for this same thought.

by majoyenrac on Mar 3, 2008 9:15 PM CST reply actions

I'd rather

have a role player who knows he's a role player than a somewhat-talented player who thinks he's a superstar.

Sure, Hughes makes a handful of nice plays every game, but when he's taking 15 shots and hitting 41% of them, you gotta wonder about his net effect. His career 48.8 TS% is the lowest I've ever seen for someone who shoots as much as he does.

by YaoPau on Mar 3, 2008 10:01 PM CST up reply actions

i don't think it's that bad

he basically said he'd rather have fun and lose than be in cleveland's "stand around and watch lebron" offense. i don't necessarily blame him for that.

that and hughes is a good guy. he was an early entry candidate so he could raise money for his (now deceased) brother's medical bills.

by Jaina on Mar 3, 2008 9:17 PM CST reply actions

Its a cool statement

But it raises questions about what he might do in the game. I mean if a dwight howard or a lebron is on his way to a dunk and larry hughes can get the charge, will he jump in and take the charge, or will he think (damn if he hits me Ill be out for a while, thats no fun!) and get the hell out of the way. When the team needs a basket will he create for his team, or will he buy into his opponenets trash talk that he can "hit that shot" and take a wild shot that may (bound to) miss.

If you can, imagine when you play basketball when its not about who wins or loses. You'll take crazy shots, you wont play defense how you should, you wont make the decisions that helps you win or score, but the ones that draw the most attention.

This also makes sense as to why larry hughes plays good in contract years or debuts, to get the money, get the contract, and get the fans.

This also doesnt mean he is gonna hurt the bulls, but like YaoPau said, we probably shouldnt put him in the 4th quarter, especially if its tight.

Kirk Hinrich. The Best White American Point Guard in the NBA.

by piccolomair on Mar 3, 2008 9:30 PM CST up reply actions

true

but at the same time i'm not convinced that statement really means "i don't care about winning".. but that winning isn't everything. that he doesn't have to win a championship to enjoy playing the game... and by the same token being the eastern conference champion doesn't mean he's enjoying the game.

i'm in favor of the new guys in limited minutes, i mean do i think he should play the 44 he got against the cavs? no, but he's a useful player.

by Jaina on Mar 3, 2008 9:40 PM CST up reply actions

Couldn't

agree more.

by Kemp @ Blog a Bull on Mar 4, 2008 2:31 AM CST up reply actions

Sounds

like everyone on the Bulls are just playing for fun then. Because we sure are chucking up bad shots, not defending, and not winning.

I don't think you can read much into what he was saying. Its the whole playing for the love of the game thing players go on about. He talks just as much about winning and the playoff push. He was already pretty much assured the playoffs when he was with Cleveland, but obviously that doesn't mean you like the basketball happening at Cleveland. He'd rather trade away that assurance in Cleveland for a chance at enjoying basketball again in Chicago, if that means the playoffs or not. Gotta remember, the Bulls had dug themselves in a hole long before he showed up to the scene. Right now he's in the hole with them.

by cranscape on Mar 3, 2008 10:02 PM CST up reply actions

does it look like anybody

on the bulls is enjoying himself?

Baby Bulls II?

by bullshooter on Mar 4, 2008 9:20 AM CST up reply actions

Well since they traded Joe Smith...

I was just trying to point out that it was silly to try to correlate Hughes' comment with his effort during the game. He only plays for fun so he won't try hard when it counts? I don't think so. No more or less than anyone else on the team.

by cranscape on Mar 4, 2008 10:32 AM CST up reply actions

doesn't mind losing?

he's on the right team.

hey-o!

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 3, 2008 10:59 PM CST reply actions

Fun and Thomas and Hughes together

I think he's saying that winning doesn't overcome playing for the joy of the game. He may not take charges or rotate fast enough on D, but that says more about his style than effort.
Also, anyone else notice that Thomas and Hughes seem to really like playing together? Hughes pushes the ball up the court well which benefits Thomas and, when he does drive to the hoop (I'd like to see more of that) he looks for athletic cutters like Thomas. During timeouts and after deadballs, it seemed like the two of them were always chatting/patting each other on the back.
If we're getting more Hughes minutes whether we like it or not, I hope he's paired with Thomas as opposed to Gooden.
But Boylan will probably just continue to crush my soul.

by Old Skool Sloan on Mar 4, 2008 8:44 AM CST reply actions

Anyone

else going to the funeral tonight? I mean basketball game...

Me and my brother might bring paper bags if they loose this one. So watch for us on Sportscenter if they duuuu.

by Bulls4Ever on Mar 4, 2008 9:40 AM CST reply actions

Now we know it's a big story

Carol Slezak sighting!

The worst thing about Hughes' proclamation is that he is the Bulls' best player.

oof.

(h/t: CavsNews)

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 4, 2008 9:50 AM CST reply actions

Not a good day.

But this isn't a big surprise from Larry Hughes? Time with tell if Larry Hughes or Jalen Rose is voted the Bulls least competitive player of all-time?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 10:27 AM CST reply actions

Mercer

I don't think he belongs on that list. Just wondering why do you think he belongs with Erob & Jalen. Jalan's complaining would makes Kirk & Noce look like mutes.

by Jesse07 on Mar 4, 2008 2:32 PM CST up reply actions

agree!

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 3:42 PM CST up reply actions

I wonder what

he's like in the locker room? With an attitude like his I could see where he could piss a few people off. I find it very sad that Pax and Boylan have bought into him.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 10:41 AM CST reply actions

dunno Sue

Hughes thinks he's good at basketball. So I'm not sure about the locker room, but I know as far as you're concerned that's a strike against. ;)

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 4, 2008 10:47 AM CST up reply actions

I dunno

I think I'd rather have attitude than the listless blankness from the majority of the team. Noah and Thomas are the only other ones that have "gotten out of line" this year from the norm of Bull Blandness (tm) that the organization likes to foster (and the blandness that shows up on the court).

by cranscape on Mar 4, 2008 11:02 AM CST up reply actions

Hughes told Mike North

he really didn't mesh with Danny Ferry.

The Kids Must Stay In The Picture!!!

by NBA Observer on Mar 4, 2008 11:18 AM CST up reply actions

I'd imagine that his teammates . . .

Would be more upset by the fact that he takes so many shots than they are by his supposed lack of competitiveness. His big contract probably doesn't help either.

by Big D on Mar 4, 2008 11:18 AM CST up reply actions

We might gain a small window

(small, mainly because the scope subject's size is so limited) into Boylan's thinking on Larry Hughes' remarks. If Thabo returns to the starting line-up tonight, then perhaps we may judge that Hughes' comments did not sit so well with Bulls management.

by alec on Mar 4, 2008 11:46 AM CST up reply actions

my first reaction

says. Hughes attitude might rub Kirk and Noah more than the rest of the players?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 11:45 AM CST up reply actions

I dunno but

it kind of sounds like BG isn't happy even though he doesn't say it.

http://chicagosports.chicagotribune.com/sports/basketball/bulls/cs-080303-ben-gordon-larry-hughes,1, 1193617.story

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 11:49 AM CST up reply actions

that's the bigger story

in less than a year BG has gone from being insulted by 5/10 extension to probable MLE level. He's playing minutes next to a big scoring guard who can play defense and he is slumping? There is definitely something else going on. The Bulls best game by far was right after Wallace was traded and before Hughes and Gooden suited up against Denver. There is definitely something going on.

Baby Bulls II?

by bullshooter on Mar 4, 2008 11:57 AM CST up reply actions

I think you do know.

Any time a person looks you in the eye and says, "I wouldn't tell you if I was unhappy," and then proceeds to give you a long, blank stare...I'd say he was making his meaning (or, in my personal experience, her meaning) pretty clear. I may not have the highest Relationship IQ, but that's one I've managed picked up on over the years.

by alec on Mar 4, 2008 11:57 AM CST up reply actions

When I said

"I dunno" I meant that I didn't think it might be just Kirk and Noah who might not be happy. I do think BG is not a happy camper.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 12:02 PM CST up reply actions

I guess the moral of the story

is that when you trade your disaster to another team, expect to get back their disaster. I'm not sure we're any better off now than we were two weeks ago. I think you're probably right Sue, that locker room's got to feel like a crime scene.

by alec on Mar 4, 2008 12:30 PM CST up reply actions

I look back at the Nuggets

game on 2-22 and how well they played (without Gooden and Hughes). Watching the post game interviews and seeing Tyrus so happy and him saying that the guys were having fun in the locker room and how long it had been since they had had fun in the locker room. Now it just makes me sad.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 1:56 PM CST up reply actions

BG should be getting easier shots

The big guard is now guarding Hughes and not Gordon. He couldn't get good looks against Damon Jones and Delonte West.

The Kids Must Stay In The Picture!!!

by NBA Observer on Mar 4, 2008 1:01 PM CST up reply actions

BG also

has been attempting to play the PG while on the court with Hughes. This causes him to expend more energy. In the past, with either Kirk, Duhon or even Thabo interchanging responsibilities on different possessions occurred and shots were not jacked up as soon, unlike now when Hughes gets the ball. Well maybe Noc sometimes?

Ben Gordon is proving that he wants to shoot and not play PG, regardless of what he says otherwise. Does BG really know what he wants to do?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 1:10 PM CST up reply actions

He wants money

and lots of it.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 1:21 PM CST up reply actions

good for him.

money's a fine motivator, I wish he actually proved contract-year theory however.

by your friendly BullsBlogger on Mar 4, 2008 1:22 PM CST up reply actions

Home team discount!

I've figured it all out: Ben (no more clarification necessary anymore, thank God!) and Luol are deliberately playing like crap so Pax can sign them to extensions this offseason for less, providing more cap room to pick up a stud free agent should one come along.

Word is, both will also donate 95% of their new contracts to charitable causes because they're both such good guys. I've also heard that Pax is pushing for that charitable cause to be a buy-out of Hughes's contract. Win-win-win.

by paxson43 on Mar 4, 2008 2:06 PM CST up reply actions

charitable causes?

Deng included? they all play for the money. Winning is always thru-out most players careers secondary, thirdenary or forthinary.

Only a chosen few, after they receive the hugh contracts, then make winning championships the highest priority.

Oops! thirdenary and forthinary aren't words.. Neither are Deng and Ben going to contribute to the Bull's e-robbing jalen rose picking larry hughes.

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 2:41 PM CST up reply actions

larry hughes's priority for winning

is ranked in the low half of ten billionary on the priority scale.

He's just a "guy that wants to have fun"
"Oh! a guy that wants to have fun"

who made that song, but replaced the word guy with girls?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 2:55 PM CST up reply actions

Cindy Lauper

"Girls Just Want To Have Fun".....party anthem.....(Not that I would know that) ;-)

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 3:03 PM CST up reply actions

thanks

sue, she was probably was a while before you time? But the song has been a classic for years now.. I believe this was an eighties song?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 3:11 PM CST up reply actions

correction..

she probably was a while before your time?

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 3:17 PM CST up reply actions

Nope, I

was around in the eighties.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 3:19 PM CST up reply actions

Yes it

was an eighties song.

by sue369 on Mar 4, 2008 3:19 PM CST up reply actions

i'm only 24

and i know cyndi lauper!

lol, my entire family saw her perform a few years ago in atlantic city. it was awesome!!!

by Jaina on Mar 4, 2008 3:23 PM CST up reply actions

Yes

I can imagine it was a great performance, the song was huge when it first was introduced. Madonna and Cindy Lauper head-2-head.

I also can imagine Larry Hughes as a 5 year old, proclaiming it as his favorite song which help shape his basketball philosophy. ;)

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 3:35 PM CST up reply actions

Or maybe it was first played

on 1/23/79 the DOB of Larry Hughes. That would make it a 70's song.

by exult463 on Mar 4, 2008 3:15 PM CST up reply actions

Digression

Before I post a comment, I usually take a second or two to consider who the likely respondents will be and also what conversation my comment will spark (unless it's just one of my random quips). I never thought that my post would wind up in a conversation about Cyndi Lauper and the 80s. Never ever.

Nice work, team.

by paxson43 on Mar 4, 2008 5:08 PM CST up reply actions

to get rid of BW

one had to take Hughes - damn the Lakers for doing the trade for Gasol.

I don't think Hughes will be a Bull next year . He'll be somewhere else. His contract is silly, but with only two years left someone might bite.
Let's hope Zeke stays GM for another couple of years.

by KT on Mar 4, 2008 12:17 PM CST reply actions

Hahah

Good one

"Jerome James PER.. is 46.68... Do that trade now! Screw Horford, we don't need him. Jerome is a monster!!!!!!!!!" - BNeL21

by NittanyBull on Mar 4, 2008 3:24 PM CST up reply actions

I do not like a player even implying he doesn't

mind losing. This is not a good sign.

by chgobr on Mar 4, 2008 1:36 PM CST reply actions

why....

does everyone hate hughes so much he is doing a decent job i mean he has taken some dumb shots but gordon does the same thing with worst defense... i also have seen hughes make some good passes like the one to thomas in the cleveland game....basically what i am trying to say is i think we need the rest of the year to see who is better between gordon and hughes because one of them needs to be gone

by bullzfan148 on Mar 4, 2008 4:33 PM CST reply actions

If you add

a little more punctuation, I feel the same way. I don't think Hughes has the power to kill our season. We kind of did that to ourselves already. And yeah, he does chuck it like Gordon, and we certainly don't need two chuckers, but Gordon has to figure his own game out and stop pouting around in the locker room as some have implied. The whole team has proven to be weak this year and if all it takes to crush Gordon's spirit is to have a confident chucker like Hughes around Gordon needs to get over it. And like you said, Hughes has made some good passes and that great assist to Thomas the other night. He also looks good finishing his layups and at the fast break. I don't think he wants to be ball handler like that and would be better with Hinrich than Gordon, but that is Boylan's own fault for putting Gordon and Hughes out there together. Neither are great at getting everyone involved and both are going to end up frustrated since their minds are used to being occupied with shooting, thinking ahead and making plays for others as they bring the ball up the court.

by cranscape on Mar 4, 2008 4:43 PM CST up reply actions

I mean

*not thinking ahead...

by cranscape on Mar 4, 2008 4:44 PM CST up reply actions

Hughes "needs to be gone"

based on the difference between his ability to play basketball good and pay grade alone.

We, the Bulls, Assistant Coach Boylan, etc. really don't need less than half a season to figure out if Larry Hughes is better than Ben Gordon. And it would be pretty stupid if a decision was actually based on one player 'responding' to another 'earning'. These guys aren't rookies. Size and potential be damned, Paxson should keep the average shooting guard who can at least stay healthy.

Fire Boylan!

by hscs on Mar 4, 2008 4:52 PM CST up reply actions