Criminally underrated teammates of Chicago Bulls legend Michael Jordan: Larry Hughes
Among the more underappreciated, but inconsistent, guards of the 2000s was the former Saint Louis Billiken and 6-foot-5 and 185-pound Missouri native Larry Hughes. The eighth overall pick of the first round of the 1998 NBA Draft of the Sixers was an immediate impact player for the likes of the Sixers, Golden State Warriors, and Wizards early in his career.
Hughes was a true volume scoring shooting guard that could help shoulder the load on both ends of the floor playing alongside a player like Jordan. He was a Jordan teammate during the two years where the legendary shooting guard played with the Wizards before his third and final retirement.
Playing with Jordan during what would be the final year of his NBA career with the Wizards, Hughes did help to shoulder the load for a team that looked to be rising at the time.
During the 2002-03 season, Hughes averaged roughly 13 points per game, five rebounds, three assists, 1.5 steals, and 0.5 blocks. And he shot 47 percent from the field, 37 percent from beyond the arc, and 73 percent from the free-throw line.
Ironically enough, Hughes actually did play for the Bulls well after the days for Jordan in Chicago were in the rearview mirror. Hughes played for the Bulls in bits and pieces of the 2007-08 and 2008-09 seasons. But he never found that borderline All-Star-level form that Hughes had in his latter days with the Wizards in his bits and pieces of two seasons with the Bulls.