Roy Hibbert nearly took NBA postgame fashion to the next level on Saturday, but he was talked out of making his bold statement.
Hibbert said after the Indiana Pacers’ 82-71 win over the New York Knicks in Game 3 of their Eastern Conference semifinal series that he envisioned having a good game and speaking before the media at the podium. He says he brought a monocle with him to make a fashion statement, but he was talked out of it by a teammate and the team’s PR director.
“I asked my teammate Paul (George) if I should do this. This is my first time at the podium basically all year. I know a lot of people always wear crazy get-ups and stuff like that, so I said to myself before the game, ‘I’m going to have a great game tonight.’
“I was advised by Paul George and David Benner not to set a trend by wearing a monocole, so I’m not putting on the monocle,” Hibbert said.
Hibbert was dominant during the game and recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds. But he did say he was disappointed with himself for not getting any blocks. Hibbert said that’s what they pay him the big bucks for, and having no blocks messes up his average.
After he was done speaking with the media, Hibbert tossed the monocle to a reporter.
TNT’s Rachel Nichols did get a close-up picture of Hibbert with the accessory:
NBA fashion game – Pacers Roy Hibbert and the monocle he brought to the podium. #UppingTheAnte @hoya2apacer twitter.com/Rachel__Nichol…
— Rachel Nichols (@Rachel__Nichols) May 12, 2013
I can’t really blame George and Benner from talking Hibbert out of looking like the Monopoly guy at the podium, but it’s not like we haven’t seen much worse. I actually think it would have been awesome had Hibbert rocked the monocle.
