Roy Hibbert went for 24 points and 11 rebounds, and came up with the biggest stop of the game in a showdown at the rim with LeBron James. He was the biggest deterrent to LeBron and the Heat reaching their third consecutive NBA Finals in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.
Simply put, it was one of the best games of his career.
Because of his racy postgame comments, he won’t be remembered for any of it.
Hibbert will be remembered for calling reporters “motherf******s” and for his racial “no-homo” slur.
*It wasn’t as bad as it sounds.
And because of his racy postgame comments, he was hit with a hefty $75,000 fine by the NBA today.
Rush, who played with Hibbert as a member of the Pacers from 2008-2011, obviously was surprised, but Hibbert was not. He issued an apology earlier today that likely softened the blow to his bank account:
“I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night. They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers’ organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night.”
While HIbbert’s comments were all in good fun, he was clearly wrong to make them. But he was still sincere in his apology, which was made clear to NBA Commissioner David Stern:
“While Roy has issued an apology, which is no doubt sincere, a fine is necessary to reinforce that such offensive comments will not be tolerated by the NBA”
Hibbert is a very self-aware player. He plays within his limits and does not stray from what he’s great at: protecting the rim and being a defensive enforcer. He is also self-aware off the court. Late last night Hibbert reached out to Jason Collins, who recently became the first active player to come out as gay just a few weeks ago.
Despite the off-court attention, there is still a game to play tomorrow night in Miami. A pretty big game, and Hibbert is aware of that, too. The Pacers will roll into South Beach with as much confidence as they could ever have, coming off their dismantling of the Heat in Game 6.
The Pacers won 91-77, and lthough Miami cut the lead to four with just a few minutes to play, it really was not that close in terms of play. Indy beat them up-and-down the floor all night. If not for Miami shooting 7-of-9 from 3-point range in the first quarter, it could have gotten ugly fast.
Indiana knows they can beat Miami, and will be ready for Game 7. They aren’t going to fold after pushing them to the edge of the cliff. Win or lose, I think they’ve earned some time to reflect.
Chilling with the teammates tonight for dinner. #Family1st twitter.com/Hoya2aPacer/st…
— Roy Hibbert (@Hoya2aPacer) June 3, 2013
For more on Hibbert’s fine, tonights blog by Dan Malone.
Ben Baroff is a basketball journalist who blogs for SheridanHoops.com. Follow him on Twitter here.
Political Correctness is all that can be said without the “police” coming to correct improper language. Trying to force people to think a certain way is what they do in a Dictatorship. Its been going on for about 10 years now, and no public real discussion is allowed by the Media or David Stern.