Roy Hibbert interview: Two-time All-Star talks about the evolution of big men in the NBA

Two-time All-Star Roy Hibbert talks about how the traditional NBA big-man, around whom he modelled his game, has become extinct while centres have evolved to counter the three-point wave. It’s a different breed.” The wave of three-pointers unleashed by the Golden State Warriors took them to the league title in 2015, and then again in 2017 and 2018, with players like Steph Curry and Klay Thompson at the heart of the shooting juggernaut, spearheaded by coach Steve Kerr. At the same time, I like seeing how the new guys like Joel Embiid can score from inside and out and also facilitate.” “I was just put under the basket and told to shoot jump hooks if needed, while everybody else in team would do the shooting,” said Hibbert remembering his own youth basketball days, where he played for Georgetown. While Hibbert credited Team USA, popularly known as the Dream Team, at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992 with popularising the game around the world and bringing some of the best centres into the league like the German Dirk Nowitzki, he agreed that given the way the NBA evolved into a league where three-pointers were the preferred weapon for many successful teams like the Warriors and the Houston Rockets, colleges with decent basketball programs too changed their tactics to incorporate more three-point shooting to attract the best players. Last season, Hibbert was on the coaching staff of Philadelphia 76ers where he says he would advice young players coming into the league to “space the floor and shoot”.