LeBron James fined $15,000 for obscene gesture on the court

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By stefan armitage

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LeBron James has been slapped with a $15,000 fine after making an obscene gesture on the court during Thursday's game against the Pacers.

At the closing moments of the game, the Lakers icon made a late shot to help secure his team's 124-116 overtime victory in Indiana.

Following the shot, LeBron performed a celebration that is often associated with Philadelphia 76ers assistant coach Sam Cassell. The celebration move is commonly known as "Big Balls", and originated in the 1994 movie Major League II.

Check out LeBron make the gesture below:

As well as the fine, CBS Sports reports that James has also received a warning about his use of profane language in the post-game press scrum.

A statement from the NBA reads:

"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."

On Sunday, James was handed a one-game suspension for hitting Detroit Pistons center Isaiah Stewart in the face. The physical altercation led to Stewart drawing blood, and resulted in James missing the Lakers' Wednesday night loss at Madison Square Garden to the New York Knicks.

Check out the altercation below:

When asked about the suspension, James would describe it as "bulls**t".

He would go on to tell reporters: "I'm definitely not that type of player. I hate to see that, what escalated after that.

"I didn't think it warranted...I thought it warranted an ejection because of what happened after that. Having me in the game, the excitement from the fans, what could possibly happen after that, but a suspension I didn't think was warranted but the league made that call."

Stewart received a two-game ban for the physical disagreement.

Featured image credit: PictureLux / The Hollywood Archive / Alamy