Roy Hibbert Deserved Huge Fine for Homophobic Slur and Curse at Press Conference

Roy Hibbert deserved the large, $75,000 fine he incurred from the league for his comments after Game 6 of the Eastern Conference Finals.

According to CBS Sports’ Ken Berger, the specific reasoning for this financial punishment was Hibbert’s “use of inappropriate and vulgar language,” which is an overly proper description of the event.

During his interview session following the Pacers' critical 91-77 home win to force Game 7, the center dropped an explicative when referencing the media’s voting of him as the No. 10 Defensive Player of the Year.

Hibbert soon followed that with a “no homo” statement after discussing how LeBron James “stretched him out” on defense.

Those remarks were simply out of line for a player that was—at that moment—the center of the NBA universe.

The 7’2” giant had just held the Heat to their lowest total scoring output—by far—in the 2013 postseason and chipped in 24 points and 11 rebounds of his own.

Everyone wanted to know what he had to say about that performance, but most came away disappointed in his immature scolding of the press and idiotic homophobia.

With these comments making shockwaves during the height of the playoffs—the league’s biggest stage—commissioner David Stern needed to send a message

On his decision to penalize the big man, the commissioner stated (via Chris Mannix of Sports Illustrated): "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.

Hibbert did release an apology through the Pacers website, which you can read and see being discussed in the video below:

He also used Twitter to reach out to Jason Collins, the NBA player who recently received overwhelming praise for publicly announcing he is gay—becoming the first male athlete still active in a major professional sport to do so.

What they discussed is currently unknown, but hopefully that conversation—along with Stern’s heavy fine—has taught Hibbert to avoid using homophobic slurs in the future.