Roy Hibbert says will stand up for his teammates no matter what
Los Angeles Lakers center Roy Hibbert is a man of his word.
He told his teammates he’d have their back this season -- from the starters to the last man on the bench -- and he stuck to that in a time of adversity.
During the third quarter of Tuesday night’s 117-114 loss to the Utah Jazz, second-year big man Julius Randle and Jazz big man Trevor Booker tangled arms. Booker pushed Randle off of him and Hibbert, who saw the play out of the corner of his eye, immediately ran up and confronted Booker. In response, Booker took a swing at Hibbert and barely grazed him.
“I ain’t worried about him,” Hibbert told the L.A. Daily News when asked of his opinion of Booker. “I’m not going to speak on that.”
What Hibbert will speak on, however, is his willingness to stand up for teammates. He didn’t hesitate to have his Randle’s back, and he would do it again in a heartbeat.
“We play together,” Hibbert said. “He’s the face of this team for the future. Anybody from the starting five to the guys on the bench, we play as a team and I have everybody’s back.”
Randle appreciated the support of his much larger teammate, as it confirmed to him the type of guy Hibbert is.
“Roy has told me all year he has my back,” Randle said. “Whatever it is, he has my back. So I’m not surprised. But I’m definitely glad he did.”
