You have to get past King Cake Baby’s terrifying exterior to realize he’s really lovable

Actually, I think King Cake Baby is a really nice dude and I’d invite him to my wedding. We’ve all been judging a book by its cover.

“He was only ever scary to outsiders,” said SB Nation’s New Orleans native Elena Bergeron.

If you don’t know who King Cake Baby is, you will meet him during the NBA All-Star game. He’s a mascot for the New Orleans Pelicans, named after a seasonal cake made during NOLA’s Carnival.

He’s super friendly and excited to meet everyone. Seriously, check his Twitter page.

It’s just so, so sad that he’s a bit socially unaware of when people are scared to death of him (which is almost all of the time). To be clear, most of my colleagues at SB Nation feel this way, and I’m here to change their minds too.

This week, Cake Baby went on ESPN’s The Jump, and Zach Lowe and Tracy McGrady gave the reaction everyone does: head down, hands protecting the face. KCB really doesn’t understand this social cue.

He thought T-Mac loved him and that Lowe was pumped to meet him, which they most certainly did not feel at the time.

I get it. I’m not blind to KCB’s grotesqueness. His head is big, his arms are adultish, his body is plastic, and his overall being is far from pleasant. But looky here who else we were too quick to judge:

The Abominable Snowman

Beast from Beauty and the Beast

I’m just saying, give him a chance. He’ll for sure take some airtime during the All-Star game, and you have to look past the ugly. He can be really cuddly and sweet.

Here’s the King Cake Baby the media doesn’t want you to see:

Even Zach Lowe came around: