In the summer of 2009, he invented the "vertical jump defense" at home by studying Howard's game video. made James, Anthony and other offensive players miserable, and became one of the best rim protectors in the league.
The league then changed the defensive rules against him, and in just four years, he went from an All-Star to a fringe player that no one cared about. He is "Black Yao Ming" - Roy Hibbert.
Hibbert was born on December 11, 1986, in Queens, New York, to an immigrant family. His parents had well-paid jobs, and he was very happy since he was a child.
Hibbert inherited his father's genes, and as a child he was very tall and had a soft spot for basketball, but was forbidden by his father. Because his father believed that basketball was for people with simple minds and well-developed limbs, and sent him to an aristocratic school to get in touch with elegant sports, golf and bowling.
But he was very rebellious when he was a child, and despite his parents' opposition, Hibbert still chose to join the basketball team and embarked on the road of basketball.
After receiving professional training, Hibbert began to make a name for himself, and with his excellent talent, he quickly made a name for himself and was favored by Georgetown Preparatory High School, a famous basketball school.
After entering high school, Hibbert unfortunately suffered from "attention deficit disorder", which made it difficult for him to concentrate on the field or in class. What's even more odious is that the classmates around him began to laugh at him because of his height, and gave him the title of "stupid big man", and he began to resist basketball after being hit.
After three years of precipitation, Hibbert successfully overcame the psychological barrier and became more courageous and confident. In his senior season, he averaged 19 points, 10 rebounds and 3 blocks per game to help the team win the state championship and win the opportunity to enter Georgetown University.
In his freshman season, Hibbert suffered another setback, and despite his obvious height advantage, he was extremely mobile and confrontational, and did not get many opportunities. Hibbert did not back down, he took the initiative to find the head coach to help him develop special training in the offseason, and the coach was also very optimistic about him, and specially invited his old seniors Ewing and Mutombo to help him with special training.
In his sophomore season, Hibbert improved significantly, averaging 12 points and 7 rebounds per game, becoming the main center of the varsity team, and helped the team achieve a 23-9 record, leading the team back to the NCAA tournament stage.
His junior year was one of his best years in college, averaging 13 points, 7 rebounds and 2 blocks per game, being named to the All-Division Team and helping the team reach the NCAA Final Four. In the semi-finals, Hibbert successfully limited the opposing "Great" Oden, and unfortunately lost to the final due to the overall strength of the team, but also created the team's best result in the past 20 years.
After the end of his junior year, Hibbert was originally going to participate in the NBA draft, but due to the emergence of talented insiders such as the Great and Horford, he finally chose to fight for another year in order to have a good draft prospect. After his senior year, Hibbert officially entered the draft, and was finally selected by the Raptors with the 17th pick in the first round, and was immediately traded to the Pacers to start his NBA career.
During his rookie season, Hibbert was diagnosed with athletic asthma, which caused him to have frequent physical problems. But he didn't choose to give up, and has been training hard to make up for the shortcomings caused by athleticism and physical illness, so he also met the second Bole of his basketball career: Vogel.
At Vogel's suggestion, he observed Howard's game and found that as long as he didn't lean in the air after the jump, he wouldn't be fouled if he made physical contact with an offensive player, and coincidentally invented the vertical take-off defense.
In addition, after Vogel became head coach, Hibbert was heavily used and became the team's defensive gate. He was also named an All-Star for the first time in his career in 2011-12 due to his performance on the defensive end.
The 2012-14 season was the pinnacle of Hibbert's career with the Pacers, not only becoming the starting center of the Eastern Conference All-Star, but also being named to the All-Defensive Second Team, and helping the team reach the Eastern Conference Finals for the second year in a row.
In the finals, facing the Heat triumvirate led by James, Wade and Bosh, Hibbert beat Bosh and forced the Heat into a desperate situation. Especially in 2013, the Pacers and Heat played a tie-break to separate the winners, and the excellent defense forced the strongest James.
In the second half of 2014, the league revised the defensive rules for vertical jumping, and Hibbert, as the team's defensive core, couldn't adapt to the new rules, and often played 0 points, 0 rebounds and more fouls.
Then the small-ball era came, and as a traditional center, he had no movement speed or three-point ability, and was finally abandoned by the management to end his seven-year Pacers career.
Hibbert was traded to the Lakers in July 2015, and the Lakers' attention was on Kobe Bryant's retirement tour. Although he was the team's starter, he didn't get many opportunities, and he only averaged 5 points and 5 rebounds per game.
In the following days, he began a life of exile, and completely lost the opportunity to play after going to the Hornets and Nuggets. On July 17, 2018, Hibbert officially chose to retire, ending a nine-year career.