When you heard Roy Hibbert unfiltered after Game 6, the only question was how big a check he was going to write.
How about $75,000 big?
The league has fined Hibbert $75,000 for his postgame comments on Saturday night, the league announced. (He got a max contract last year, thanks to a Portland offer sheet, so he can afford it.)
“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,” said NBA Commissioner David Stern in a released statement.
Hibbert said two inappropriate things after the game, both in interviews being broadcast nationally after the game.
The first was when asked about how he finished 10th in the NBA Defensive Player of the Year voting (something voted on by the media).
“You know what, because y’all motherf••••••s don’t watch us play throughout the year, to tell you the truth,” Hibbert said. “I don’t care if I get fined.”
But the bigger part of the fine was tied to this comment from his post-game interview room, when he was asked about the charging call he drew on LeBron at the rim and how he was focused on protecting the paint.
“There was Game 3 here that I felt I let Paul (George) down in terms of having his back when LeBron was scoring in the post or getting into the paint because they stretched me out so much — no homo (laughs) — but I want to be there for him. I think he has a chance to be MVP of this league next year.”
As noted, Hibbert apologized Sunday morning.
The league is very conscious of image over everything and the comment is offensive (the idea that you need to protect your masculinity somehow with this aside makes it offensive — you wouldn’t use that slang with another group). The league will always protect its image.
