Roy Hibbert Wanted To Play For A Coach That Actually Played In The NBA

USA Today

Things didn’t end well with the Indiana Pacers for veteran center Roy Hibbert. The seven-footer was basically pushed out of town after the Pacers brass decided to go in a different direction with a desire to play small ball.

With the most successful teams in the NBA going small these days, Hibbert’s style of play isn’t valued as much as it was in years past. That being said, the Pacers wanting to go in a different direction wasn’t all that surprising, but the way the situation was handled probably could’ve been done better.

Hibbert did speak highly of the Pacers organization and team president Larry Bird, but it seems obvious the veteran didn’t like the way things went in Indiana.

Along with coming off an ugly divorce with the Pacers, Hibbert talked about being traded to the Los Angeles Lakers and looking forward to playing for a head coach that actually played in the league at some point, via David Aldridge of NBA.com:

I wanted to play for a coach who actually played in the league if I had my own choice. Not to say that Frank (Vogel) wasn’t great. I had some real good times with Frank and we played well. But I told my agent that I possibly wanted to play for a coach that played in the league.

Although Hibbert makes a points out that this statement isn’t a shot at Frank Vogel, but it seems clear that things Vogel may have done impacted the center’s play on the basketball floor.

With Hibbert in the fold, the Lakers will finally have a rim protector that can help anchor the defense. Head coach Byron Scott, along with the Lakers brass, are excited at having Hibbert’s presence in the paint next season.

Hibbert will be highly motivated to show the rest of the league he is still an All-Star-caliber player while with the Lakers. Hibbert has one year left on his deal and will be looking to prove his worth to sign a lucrative long-term deal this summer which makes the acquisition a high-reward situation with the team only sacrificing a second-round draft pick to bring him in.