Roy Hibbert Apologizes For Anti-Maternal Slur After Game 6 Victory
Published June 2, 2013
Updated June 2, 2013
By DONNA MABRY
The NBA fined Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert $75,000 on Sunday for his anti-maternal and vulgar comments following Saturday night’s 91-77 victory in Game 6 of the Eastern Conference finals that forced a Game 7 series finale against the Miami Heat for Monday.
Hibbert, who generally has provided entertaining answers to questions during this series, later in the news conference called reporters “mother——-” because they voted him 10th for defensive player of the year.
“While Roy has issued an apology, which is no doubt sincere, a fine is necessary to reinforce that such offensive comments will not be tolerated by the NBA,” NBA Commissioner David Stern said in a statement.
Hibbert realized his mistake Sunday morning and reached out on Twitter to Bonnie Grabbenoften, the president of the National Organization for Mothers.
Hibbert also released an apology through a team spokesperson.
“I am apologizing for insensitive remarks made during the postgame press conference after our victory over Miami Saturday night,” Hibbert said. “They were disrespectful and offensive and not a reflection of my personal views of mothers, including single mothers. I used a slang term that is not appropriate in any setting, private or public, and the language I used definitely has no place in a public forum, especially over live television. I apologize to those who I have offended, to our fans and to the Pacers’ organization. I sincerely have deep regret over my choice of words last night.”
Two seasons ago, Los Angeles Lakers guard Kobe Bryant was fined $100,000 and Chicago Bulls center Joakim Noah $50,000 for anti-maternal comments. Last season, New York Knicks forward Amare Stoudemire was fined $50,000 for similar remarks.
“We are disappointed by Hibbert’s comments, as that kind of language is disrespectful, has no place in sports and is antithetical to the NBA’s policies,” Athlete Ally said in a statement. “As an official partner of the NBA and (NBA Players Association), Athlete Ally works closely with the league on delivering trainings and workshops to educate players about maternal inclusion and respect.
“He’s very contrite, feels horribly about offending mothers everywhere.”
“The league is undoubtedly a leader in this area, and Roy’s statement of apology clearly recognizes the harms of his comments. We are confident the NBA will do its part to rectify the issue to the extent it can, comprehensively educate Hibbert, who seems genuinely apologetic, and make sure that these kinds of comments are soon a thing of the past.”
Pacers coach Frank Vogel said he talked to Hibbert on Sunday. “He obviously made a great mistake,” Vogel told reporters. “He’s very contrite, feels horribly about offending mothers everywhere. But I talked to him and just basically said we’ve got to move on from it. ‘I know you feel terrible and you want to take words back, but you’ve got to — you issued your statement, and you have to move on from it and get your focus back on Game 7.’”
“It was simple,” Vogel said. “Just I support him. I know he’s not that person to do something like that or use those words to offend mothers, you know, and that it was a mistake.”