And it’s not the only thing. Vince Lombardi would be ashamed. The Cavs were playing the Bulls Sunday, the first meeting between the teams since they exchanged parts prior to the trade deadline. Now with a worse team, Larry Hughes says he’s actually happier in Chicago than he was in Cleveland. Matter of fact, he says being himself is more important than winning:
“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.”
We’ve recently heard that Shawn Marion wasn’t happy being on the Suns who have challenged for the Western Conference title the past couple years. Instead, he was happier being traded to the Heat, owners of the worst record in the league. What’s going on here? I like that these guys are speaking their minds. Maybe they understand that only one team a year wins a title, and only 12 players get the ring. Maybe they figure the rest of the time they should at least be happy the rest of the season. Or maybe these are self-centered playground guys who just want to have the back of their basketball card look pretty at the end of the year. Do dudes like Hughes and Marion have their priorities out of whack, or is there something to what Larry is saying? If you’re Derek Fisher and away from your ill daughter and winning, I could understand being unhappy. But if you’re just unhappy because you’re not the star, not getting the love, then I think you’re in the wrong business.
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Marion is already unhappy in Miami. The jury is still out on Hughes. In general, I would think that those huge salaries would be incentive enough for spoiled athletes to give their best at all times. Obviously that is not the case. Those guys are on a planet of their own.
Convenient of Larry to “come out of the closet” now that Chicago has to pay him his salary. If Cleveland or Chicago knew that he didn’t care about winning, I have a hunch they would have saved their millions for somebody that did. AND he’s not even very good. Garbage. 4-15 from the field — a Larry Hughes staple. Enjoy him, Chi-town.