LeBron James’ on-court celebration was apparently too much for the NBA!
Following the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers game Wednesday, People reported the 36-year-old forward was issued a $15,000 fine for grabbing his crotch in a celebratory dance inspired by Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Sam Cassell‘s “big balls” moves. The incident happened after LeBron scored a three-point shot during the fourth quarter — and like we said, the NBA apparently didn’t appreciate the gesture. They said in a statement Friday:
“Los Angeles Lakers forward LeBron James has been fined $15,000 for making an obscene gesture on the playing court and warned for using profane language during media availability in response to league imposed discipline, it was announced today by Byron Spruell, President, League Operations. The incident occurred with 1:17 remaining in the fourth quarter of the Lakers’ 124-116 overtime win against the Indiana Pacers on Nov. 24 at Gainbridge Fieldhouse.”
In case you didn’t know, the league consistently has fined players for hitting the popular dance from Cassell for years now. Earlier this month, Toronto Raptors star Fred VanVleet was also fined the same amount for doing the gesture, so it comes as no surprise that the NBA decided to flag this moment, too. You can ch-ch-check it out (below):
LeBron hit the clutch 3 and did the Sam Cassell ???? pic.twitter.com/Dvz5ndUMp6
— Complex Sports (@ComplexSports) November 25, 2021
As we mentioned before, the Space Jam actor was also issued a warning about using “profane language” while speaking with the press. The reprimand comes after LeBron received his first-ever suspension without pay a week ago after elbowing Detroit Pistons’ center Isaiah Stewart in the face. Stewart also received a two-day suspension for going after the Ohio native. LeBron called the one-game suspension “bulls**t” as he unintentionally “grazed” the fellow baller in the game during a press conference Wednesday, TMZ reported:
“His elbow got kinda high, got me off balance a little bit. His elbow lifted my arm. I basically tried to swim move down on his arm. When I went down on his arm, he got off balance, and the left side of my hand grazed his face … definitely accidental.”
While LeBron understood being removed from the game after the situation escalated, he didn’t agree with the league’s call to suspend him:
“I thought it warranted an ejection because of what happened after that, but a suspension, I didn’t think it was warranted. But, the league made that call.”
Well, we can imagine this fine also won’t sit well with LeBron. He has not responded to the NBA’s decision at this time, so we’ll see if he has something to say about it! Reactions, Perezcious readers? Let us know in the comments (below)!
[Image via MEGA/WENN]
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