Many pundits lament the fact that too many of todays star players are friends on and off the court. They relish the old days when teams were rivals and players were loath to be friends with opposing players.
With the advent of AAU youth basketball, high-profile basketball camps and the restructured schedule and commitment to USA Basketball, most players are friends on and off of the court these days.
That’s not to say that heated rivalries don’t exist, and the existence of such rivalries doesn’t suggest that people in such relationships cannot have hearts.
Enter Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert and Golden State Warriors power forward David Lee.
As you might recall, these two men had quite the dustup back in February.
[youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=U5CVFXk1O5Y&hl=en_US&version=3&rel=0]
Their altercation led to Hibbert being ejected and Lee receiving a one-game suspension. The Pacers would, however, get the win in that contest, maintaining a double-digit lead en route to an 11-point victory.
In the opening weekend of the NBA Playoffs, both men travelled divergent paths. While Hibbert’s team had success at home over the hapless Atlanta Hawks, Golden State suffered a two-point loss on the road against the Denver Nuggets.
Worse yet, the Warriors will be without their All-Star forward and double-double machine, as Lee will miss the remainder of the season after suffering a torn hip flexor.
It may not be much of a silver lining for Lee, but a least it is nice to know that on-the-court enemies (like Hibbert) are not without compassion.
Previous Tweet Posts:
Tweet of the Night: Kobe Bryant (Lakers/Spurs Reaction)
Tweet of the Night: Andrew Bogut
_______
Michael Brumagin is the “Tweet of the Day” columnist for Sheridan Hoops. You can follow him on Twitter.