Roy Hibbert emulated LeBron James on Monday night, and not in a good way.
The Indiana Pacers center capped a couple days of turbulence by exiting American Airlines Arena before time expired and foregoing the post-series handshakes after the Miami Heat's 99-76 victory during Game 7.
Hibbert had 18 points and eight rebounds in 38 minutes, but was not a factor in the second half as the Heat dominated for most of the last two quarters.
Hibbert drew sharp criticism after the Pacers' Game 6 win over the Heat when he used a gay slur during a postgame news conference. He apologized a day later, saying he intended to reach out to Jason Collins.
Collins last month came out as the first openly gay player in the NBA.
Hibbert also used an expletive to describe the media. The NBA fined Hibbert $75,000 for his remarks.
"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," said NBA Commissioner David Stern in a statement.
Hibbert's departure Monday night evoked memories of James in 2009.
He was in a similar situation as a member of the Cleveland Cavaliers. When the Orlando Magic eliminated the Cavaliers during the Eastern Conference finals, James also eschewed the post-series handshake.
At the time, James defended his actions.
"It's not being a poor sport or anything like that," multiple media sources reported James as saying.
"You know me," he told the reporters in Cleveland on Sunday. "I'm a competitor. If somebody beats you up, you're not going to congratulate them. It doesn't make sense for me to go over and shake somebody's hand."
Hibbert certainly is not in the same class of popularity as James, so he isn't likely to garner as negative a response as James.
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