Roy Hibbert is coming for your title, Dwight Howard. He might not be coming swiftly, or very directly, but he is coming.
Hibbert intends to be the best center in the NBA one day, supplanting Howard as the elite of that position, the struggling Pacers center declared while denying that he posted a photo with “#[expletive]Dwight” on Instagram. Hibbert’s offensive decline has been a major factor in Indiana’s struggles to overcome Danny Granger‘s knee injury, but the 7-foot-2 Georgetown product insists that is just a slight pit stop on the way to greatness.
“That [Instagram photo] wasn’t me, but I will be the best center in the league one day,” Hibbert told Yahoo! Sports.
Hibbert’s scoring average has dipped to 9.8 points per game and he is shooting 38 percent from the field this season, although he is averaging a career-high 3.1 blocks per game. He signed a $58-million, four-year contract in the offseason after improving almost every aspect of his game over his first four NBA seasons.
If Hibbert wants to be the best at his position, he may have to set his sights on more than just Howard. Rookie Anthony Davis looked like one of the top five centers already before he was sidelined with an ankle injury, and Anderson Varejao has come on strong now that he is healthy. Oh yeah, and Tyson Chandler, Joakim Noah and Kevin Garnett are all better than Hibbert right now.
So, hey, good luck, Roy!
