To me, Chris Paul is so much more likeable as an underdog than a star on a contender.
Didn't like Chris Paul at all with LAC, but liked him with New Orleans and now with OKC.
Thought the guy might pout in OKC, make impossible trade demands, expect his contract to be bought out at full value, something. Instead he's playing great in OKC and has a group of cast offs in the playoff hunt, only a couple of games behind the contender that traded him away.
While this is probably true with a lot of players, where I like them more as an underdog than a top dog, can't say I feel any way towards Howard, Anthony, or Rose. If anything, still wouldn't mind seeing Howard (independent of his current team) and Anthony fail. Rose has always been kinda of "meh" to me, really surprised by the fan support he's gotten, getting over 5m votes for the All-Star game the last 2 years, didn't realize he connected with the fans so much with his short reign on top.