Then, it was just about finding out how to become a winner. It gave me some roles and responsibilities that I took advantage of, so I understood that I could score the basketball in the league. But it did give me a chance to explore my game and understand what I could and could not do. Going to another team, it’s not always greener on the other side. I’ve never been a guy that didn’t get a lot of minutes, so that was a little foreign to me at the time. I wanted to play more, I wanted to explore. I came from a winning situation in Philadelphia. In your second NBA season, you averaged 22.7 points, 5.9 rebounds, 4.1 assists and 1.9 steals with the Golden State Warriors. That’s what it taught me, to really be in the moment and really recognize just the gift that we have.Ībsolutely. You have to love your family members and be there for them through tough times. When that happened, did that change your outlook on life? So, we had a great connection off the court first. My little brother,, who’s passed away since then, actually met him before I did. I had a little brother that was struggling from some medical issues and he had a little sister that was struggling from some medical issues, so that was really our bonding point. We had a connection from day one, with our family history. We played together for a short period of time we’ve been friends way longer. LH: He was one of my good friends and still is one of my good friends. I know you two developed a close relationship, so what was it like playing with Iverson and becoming friends off the court? You played alongside Allen Iverson in Philadelphia. Louis and being in the Midwest, I got a chance to travel up to Canada to Vancouver and bring my family along – my grandmother, my great uncles, my high school coach. In my draft year, the draft was actually in Vancouver, Canada. What was your draft night like and what are some of your favorite memories from that evening? You were drafted by the Philadelphia 76ers in 1998. I had a good high school career, but I never really thought, “Will I have a good college career?” I was just kind of in the moment at every step, and it really worked out for me that way because I didn’t get too far ahead of myself. Playing youth basketball, I never translated that into whether I was going to be good in high school. LH: No, I never really knew at each step if I was good enough to be successful at the next step. Was there a certain point when you realized that you were good enough to play college basketball or potentially make it to the NBA? From there, that was really my starting point of organized basketball and I fell in love with the environment, the competition, and it was something that I was naturally good at so I was able to kind of have a head start. Then, I got into organized basketball during my sixth-grade year, when I was about 12 years old. You had your pick-up games, your “21” games. Larry Hughes: I started playing school-yard basketball probably around fifth grade. Louis, when did you start playing basketball?

Listen to the interview above or read a transcribed version of the conversation below. Former NBA player Larry Hughes was recently a guest on The HoopsHype Podcast to discuss his 13-year NBA career, what it was like playing alongside Michael Jordan and LeBron James, battling injuries, how raising his four children changed him and much more.

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