NBA’s Roy Hibbert Says Goodbye to Favorite Show: ‘Parks and Recreation’
As Indiana Pacers center Roy Hibbert’s NBA season reaches its midway point, his favorite TV comedy is beginning its last. The seven-footer has been a massive fan (in every sense of the term) of NBC’s Parks and Recreation since the beginning, and over the years, he’s made several cameos on the show.
And with Parks and Rec set to go the way of Li’l Sebastian – its seventh and final season begins tonight at 8 p.m. ET on NBC – Hibbert took time out of his busy NBA schedule to chat about the funny folks from Pawnee, his secret song-and-dance plans for the finale and having dinner with Jean-Ralphio Saperstein.
Were you a fan of Parks and Recreation before appearing on it?
Well, I had always been a fan of The Office and thought the mockumentary style of the show was hilarious. So with Parks taking the same approach, it drew me in right away. The characters are just so funny and I’ve certainly been a fan of Amy Poehler since her days on Saturday Night Live.
So how did your first cameo on the show happen?
My agent, David Falk, always said to let him know if there’s anything I want to do outside of basketball, so he got the ball rolling. I remember I had heard Derrick Rose was supposed to be on The Good Wife – which I also love – but he missed his flight and he didn’t get to be on it. So, Parks is a set in a fictional town in Indiana and I just started thinking that could work. Plus, Detlef Schrempf had been on the show so I thought I might as well try and wet my beak too!
When it was time to film were you nervous?
I only had three lines but I was so nervous. I did not want to mess anything up. The nervousness set in when they emailed me the script, and then I got on set and saw how those actors work. They would do a scene for two-to-three hours! Half the time was doing it by the script then the other half was them just going off the top of their heads. I was just trying to focus on getting my lines right so none of the real actors would get mad at me!