Sixers hire former All-Star Roy Hibbert as a player-development coach

The 76ers roster appears mostly set but they haven’t stopped adding to their coaching staff. According to Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium, the team has agreed to a deal with former two-time All-Star Roy Hibbert, for a player development coaching role.

Hibbert is probably best known for anchoring some top defenses for the Indiana Pacers when he was teammates with Paul George, George Hill and Lance Stephenson. Hibbert became known for his outstanding “verticality,” or his ability to jump straight up with his arms high in the air without fouling slashers at the rim. Those Pacer teams, coached by current Lakers Head Coach Frank Vogel, were once able to surprise some people by challenging LeBron James’ Heat during the Eastern Conference playoffs.

Eventually the game evolved a bit to the point where teams began to learn how to neutralize the advantage a player like Hibbert possessed; namely, by drawing him far away from the rim with stretch bigs, or forcing him to switch onto quicker players via pick-n-roll.

But luckily the Sixers have a player or two who don’t have the same lateral weakness out on the perimeter that Hibbert had later in his 9 year career. Joel Embiid and Ben Simmons can both certainly use a few pointers when it comes to protecting the rim without fouling from the Queens native.