Roy Hibbert‘s NBA star burned brightly for a brief time during his Indiana Pacers days. With his size (7’2, 275 pounds), he quickly became a defensive stalwart and helped pioneer the defensive tactic known as “verticality” with his uncanny ability to patrol the paint and defend the rim without getting himself into foul trouble.
He was the defensive anchor for those Pacers teams that battled LeBron James and the Miami Heat in the Eastern Conference playoffs several years in a row, but he very quickly became a casualty of the pace-and-space revolution in the NBA. The league as whole has put more and more value on versatile frontcourt player who can stretch the floor and defend multiple positions, particularly out on the perimeter, while more traditional back-to-the-basket bigs like Hibbert have become anachronistic.
Hibbert played his first seven seasons in Indiana before the Pacers traded him to the Lakers in 2015. Since then, he’s had brief stints in Charlotte and Denver but has now found himself out of the league entirely. TMZ Sports caught up with him this week at LAX, and it doesn’t appear the former two-time All-Star harbors any current ambitions toward continuing his hoops career.
“It’s time to move on sometimes, you know?” Hibbert said after being asked about a potential return to the hardwood. Hibbert went as far as to say he hasn’t paid much attention to basketball, pointing out that he wasn’t aware that Isaiah Thomas joined the Nuggets.
It’s unclear exactly what’s next for Hibbert as he enters the next chapter in his life, but it appears he’s at peace with that next chapter not involving basketball.
(Via TMZ Sports)
