NBA 2018: 5 Lesser Known Retirements This Past Offseason

#3 Roy Hibbert

Roy Hibbert

Roy Hibbert was drafted 17th overall by the Toronto Raptors in the 2008 NBA Draft but a couple of weeks later, he was traded to the Indiana Pacers, where he was expected to take the place of Jermaine O'Neal, who was shipped to Toronto as part of the deal.

Slowly but steadily, the Pacers rebuilt around Hibbert height and physicality by surrounding him with great two-wing players. That rebuild reached it's peak when the Pacers reached the Eastern Conference Finals in consecutive years [2013, 2014], both times losing to the Miami Heat. Indiana held on to him for one more year [2015] but in the ever-evolving league, they couldn't keep Hibbert anymore and thus traded him to the Los Angeles Lakers in exchange for a second-round pick and it was all downhill from there.

A year with the Lakers and then as a free-agent, he signed with the Charlotte Hornets for one season in 2016 but he couldn't complete the season there. Midway through the 2016-17 season, he was traded to the Milwaukee Bucks, however, he ended up on the Denver Nuggets even before he could play a game in Milwaukee.

He received no activity as a free-agent in 2017 and after one-year of no basketball, Hibbert announced his retirement from the game a couple of months back.

Up until 2014, Hibbert was named to two All-Star games [2012, 2014] and received an All-Defensive NBA Second Team selection in 2014. He also finished second in the Defensive Player of the Year voting in 2014, where he lost out to Joakim Noah.