Roy Hibbert Talks Favorite Video Games and Offers an NBA Finals Prediction

When Roy Hibbert isn’t dominating the basketball court he’s usually glued to his video games. So it’s no surprise the 7’2” NBA center and gamer, who led the Indiana Pacers on an impressive post season run this year, was attached to his controller while serving as Activision Publishing’s ambassador at the Electronic Entertainment Expo this week.

As busy as Hibbert was helping to spread the word about Activision’s latest entertainment installments, including Skylanders: SWAP Force, the big man put the games on pause and chatted with Sports Illustrated Kids about gaming, his NBA Finals predictions and LeBron James’s monstrous block in Game 2.

You’re a big Skylanders fan. Which character is your favorite?
The Skylanders games are really cool and innovative with the action figures. I like Crusher a lot. He reminds me of myself when I'm on the court. He’s built like me.

What's the longest you've played video games in one sitting?
I once played Call of Duty for six hours straight. It was right after I got back from a road trip. I got into my apartment at 2 a.m. and started playing. Before I knew it, it was 8 a.m. The sun was shining! After that, I realized it's not good to sit and play a game for that long.

Who is the best gamer on your team?
I’d have to say Paul George. He plays a lot of FIFA. I don't have a lot of experience with FIFA, so I leave that all to Paul.

Who is your pick for the NBA championship this year, the Miami Heat or San Antonio Spurs?
This series will go seven games and the Spurs will come out on top. Both teams have experience and they’ve won in the past but the Spurs are built for this. Tim Duncan will be MVP. He is a close friend of mine.  I talked to him regularly throughout the playoffs and he gave me great advice about post up moves and how to score on people.

Who had the better block you (against New York Knicks forward Carmelo Anthony in the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals) or LeBron James (against Spurs center Tiago Splitter in the Finals)?
LeBron’s block was pretty good. His was at a different point of the game. The Heat had a huge lead. People called my block a game changer. There was a momentum shift, but that doesn’t mean my block was better. LeBron’s block was still great.