Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert was reportedly benched on Sunday against Atlanta for coming out of halftime late. The Pacers' recent struggles, meanwhile, could lead president Larry Bird to fire coach Frank Vogel before the postseason.
Hibbert logged only nine minutes in Indiana's 107-88 loss to the Atlanta Hawks, and he didn't play at all during the second half. His seat on the bench for the whole second half was because he watched a "King of the Hill" promo during halftime and came out late, according to Candace Buckner of the Indianapolis Star.
"Hibbert was watching 'King of the Hill' promo while teammates focused in," Buckner tweeted on Sunday. "Very, very poor body language from one of the 'leaders' of this (team)."
Buckner described the promo as "a bit featuring George (and) Solomon Hill."
Sunday's blowout marked Indiana's eighth loss in 11 games, putting them at a 20-18 record after beginning the season 33-7. As their season continues to spiral, Vogel's job security could reportedly come into question.
While Bob Kravitz of The Star notes he doesn't think Vogel will get the axe, he does point out Vogel was never Bird's favorite choice to be coach.
Per Kravitz:
"But know this: Vogel is not Larry Bird's guy.
"Bird was hesitant to fire Jim O'Brien in the first place, and even after Vogel turned the team around and got them to play competitively in the playoffs against the Chicago Bulls, it took a couple of months before Bird was willing to give Vogel the full-time job. If you remember, Bird wanted Vogel to hire a big-time, experience assistant, specifically Brian Shaw, before giving him the job.
"Remember, too, that in mid-March, Bird took a swipe at Vogel during a four-game losing streaking, opining that Vogel wasn't hard enough on his team at times. Vogel said the comments didn't bother him; I'm not convinced that's the truth."
If Vogel were to be fired, Kravitz writes the interim job could go to assistant Nate McMillan or Bird himself could take over for the postseason.
Vogel canceled practice for Monday, according to Buckner.
Indiana (53-25) visits the Milwaukee Bucks on Wednesday.
