Pacers center Roy Hibbert has been unusually quiet since the season ended on April 15th. He didn’t talk after their season-ending loss in Memphis and he’s kept a low profile, not posting on Twitter nor Instagram.
A TMZ representative ran into him at an airport. He first praised Hibbert for being great on his fantasy team, to which big Roy replied, “It’s been up and down.”
Roy Hibbert has until the end of June to make a decision about next season.
Hibbert was then asked about his interest in Hollywood, acting and gaming considering his history. (He is an avid gamer and has appeared on multiple episodes of NBC’s “Parks and Recreation,” among other things.)
That’s when Hibbert said he may have some time for that stuff because he plans to spend the summer in Los Angeles.
Most importantly, however, Hibbert said “I’ve got to get this basketball stuff taken care of…”
Hibbert, 28, has a decision to make by the end of June. He has a player option to stay on with the Pacers for another season — it would be his eighth year in the league — for over $15.5 million.
It’s very unlikely he’ll receive that kind of money elsewhere, and Larry Bird, the Pacers President of Basketball Operations, voiced at his season-end press conference that the team intends to play smaller and faster next season.
“Whatever he does, he does,” Bird said in April. “I don’t know what he’s going to do. We assume he’s going to be back. If he comes back, we’re probably going to play a different style, and I can’t guarantee him anything. He’ll have to earn it.”
When asked about Hibbert’s trade value, Bird said “I don’t know if he’s tradable or not, to tell you the truth.’
In the past, Hibbert has been one of the leaders in terms of staying in Indianapolis and working out at Bankers Life Fieldhouse. (He even paid Lakers great Kareem Abdul-Jabaar last summer to work with him for a few weeks.) Sure, he made numerous trips back home to Washington D.C., but he spent much of his time in Indy.
He’s also no longer co-hosting the Caroline Symmes Celebrity Softball Challenge. After doing so for each of the past five years, he’s turned that over to teammate Paul George.
This summer, it appears Hibbert is changing up his routine and hanging out in Los Angeles.
Watch TMZ’s interview with Hibbert below: