Roy Hibbert is up for the 'challenge' of playing with Kobe Bryant
Kobe Bryant can be notoriously difficult to play with. Roy Hibbert is up for the challenge.
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2 min read
After a disappointing end to his tenure with the Indiana Pacers, Roy Hibbert is hoping for a fresh start next season with the Los Angeles Lakers. Hibbert was traded to the Lakers in a salary dump after the Pacers made it clear that the former All-Star was not in their future plans. But instead of moping around thinking about how the Pacers treated him, Hibbert has been energized by the trade and is excited about the opportunity to be coached by former player Byron Scott.
Hibbert is even excited to be playing with Kobe Bryant, who usually demands a lot from his teammates. This doesn't seem to bother Hibbert as he told ESPN's Baxter Holmes, he is up for the challenge.
Hibbert has already witnessed Bryant’s brashness first-hand. The center broke his nose while fouling Bryant in an early 2012 game. Not long after, Hibbert said on a podcast that he talked to Bryant “expecting a little sympathy, and I got none from Kobe.”
But Hibbert says he and Bryant have since cleared the air, and that he’s “excited” to play alongside him.
“Just being able to play with a great [and] being pushed by somebody that has done it and won five championships. I’m up for a challenge,” Hibbert says. “People tell me a lot of different things, how he’ll respect me, and I feel like if I go about my business, I can get it done.”
“So,” Hibbert says before taking a long pause, “it’ll be a challenge. But I’m up for it. I’m not going to speculate on other people and how they interacted with him and their relationships, but I feel like if I put my best foot forward in practices and in games, I don’t feel like there will be any tension. And I’m the type of person that will be like, ‘Hey, if I did something, let’s talk it out,’ as opposed to just going back and forth every day.”
Even though Bryant hasn't rolled out the welcome mat for him, this is the right attitude for Hibbert to take. Also, what else would he do? Act defiant to Bryant, the man who has ruled things in Lakerland for close to two decades? As Gob Bluth would say, "Come on!"
By trying to placate to Bryant and show that he is a hard worker and competitor, is the best course of action for Hibbert. If Hibbert is able to return to being an elite defender and help the Lakers win, then Bryant should have no problem with him.
