Roy Hibbert Fined $75,000 for Controversial Postgame Remarks

Roy Hibbert had a tremendous game in the Indiana Pacers' Game 6 win over the Miami Heat, but he is garnering headlines instead for his controversial postgame comments.

On Sunday, the league announced that it is fining the big man $75,000 for his language.

The news comes from CBS Sports' Ken Berger:

Commissioner David Stern made the following statement on the matter, via Sports Illustrated's Chris Mannix:

For the uninitiated, Hibbert made two different comments during his postgame conference that got him into trouble.   

First, when he was asked why he finished 10th in the Defensive Player of the Year voting, he answered with a tirade directed toward the media, which included vulgar language. 

At a different point in the press conference, he used an anti-gay term after describing his defense against LeBron James.

Hibbert later apologized for his comments:

He also reached out to Jason Collins (who recently came out publicly) via Twitter, asking to discuss some things:

There was light talk that Hibbert might see a one-game suspension, but a fine is what was expected all along.

While his remarks were both insensitive and ignorant, it appeared as though he was simply trying to be funny. Hopefully this punishment will help him realize that he went about that in the wrong way and that the language he used is not acceptable. 

In 2011, Chicago Bulls forward Joakim Noah was fined $50,000 for directing an anti-gay slur at a fan, while Kobe Bryant received a $100,000 hit for using one against a referee.  

Hibbert will be in the lineup for Game 7 on Monday night when the Pacers and Heat battle for a spot in the NBA finals.