Things didn’t quite work out for Roy Hibbert on or off the court last season, and the big fella vows to be a changed player and man in 2014-’15.
Hibbert suffered the ignominy of being benched, went scoreless in four Playoff games, and generally seemed lost and unhappy.
The Indiana Pacers center spent the offseason working with Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (and watching inspirational movies), and says he’s matured quite a bit.
Per the Indy Star:
When the Indiana Pacers’ rim protector walks through a crowded room at the Ritz-Carlton in Charlotte, he chooses the back corner seat. When he speaks, he looks away. And when he reveals his solution to his radical decline through the second half of last season, he gruffly says that he will “make sure I just shut my mouth, go out there and compete.”
“He really lost sight of what worked and what didn’t work,” says Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, evaluating his latest pupil. “Things just seemed to fall apart, but that’s behind us.” […] This summer, instead of committing to bulking up in the weight room, Hibbert turned within. More specifically, he turned to yoga, Pilates and, of course, Kareem. He meditates. He eats an insane amount of asparagus but also leaves room for the good stuff like pulled BBQ chicken sandwiches that dropped his weight to 274 at the start of camp.
“I had to change,” Hibbert says, and this is coming from the over-sharer who posted 20 photos during 31 days last August, including a picture of artificially flavored Dr. Pepper bubble gum. […] “I made a conscious decision. The way that I played the last playoffs and the second half of the year, whatever I say is going to be scrutinized. So I say, the best way (is) to pull back a little bit because people think you’re going to be focused on the wrong things.”
