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LeBron ‘LeSnitch’ James fined $15,000 for obscene gesture

November 27, 2021 | | Print Article

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NBA star LeBron “LeSnitch” James, the same man who had fans ejected from a game Wednesday over one of them yelling something derogatory at him, was himself fined on Friday for his own obscene behavior.

In fact, the fine was related to a gesture James had made during the exact same game in which he’d had a couple of fans ejected.

“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,” the league announced in a press release Friday.

“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,” according to the league.

During the game, James performed the “big balls dance,” commonly known as the Sam Cassell in reference to the former NBA star and current Philadelphia 76ers coach who popularized the gesture.

Watch:

Cassell reportedly got the idea for the dance from watching the 1994 film “Major League II.”

“In one of the funnier parts of the film, Isuro Tanaka (played by Takaaki Ishibashi) tells teammate Pedro Cerrano (played by Dennis Haysbert) that he has ‘no marbles,’ gesturing with both of his hands below his groin in a cupping motion,” according to The Athletic.

“Later, Tanaka taunts Cerrano with the same gesture in the team’s dugout. Cerrano then demands to be inserted to pinch hit and drills a game-winning home run. As he’s trotting to first base, he mimics Tanaka’s taunt, alternating his hands as a celebratory expression of big cojones,” the outlet reported in 2019.

Watch the scene for yourself below:

Besides making him laugh, this scene also inspired Cassell, who at the time was playing for the Milwaukee Bucks, to debut his own “big balls dance” after hitting a “decisive shot” during a game the night after he’d watched the film.

“I just took it and I ran with it,” he told The Athletic in 2019.

The dance has since been repeated ad nauseam by numerous other players, all of whom have faced a $15,000 fine from the NBA, which considers the dance to be obscene.

It appears James’ own rendition of the legendary dance marked his first time. However, it also marked the second infraction he’d earned within the span of just a week.

During a game last Sunday against the Detroit Pistons, the Los Angeles Lakers’ player hit Pistons player Isaiah Stewart in the face with his left elbow and fist.

This led to HIM being ejected from the game for “unnecessary and excessive contact above the shoulder.”

“James was escorted off the floor and fans did not throw anything at him as he walked toward the team’s locker room. It marked only the second career ejection for James in 1,318 career regular-season games. He did not speak to the media after Sunday’s game,” the NBA reported.

It’s not clear what triggered this recent hash of bad behavior.

What’s known is that the NBA star’s antics and political outbursts have earned him a great deal of ire from some subsets of the population.

From defending the Chinese Communist Party to attacking former President Donald Trump and — most recently — mocking Kyle Rittenhouse, he’s acted like a “real a**hole,” or so critics say.

Look (*Language warning):

Some wonder if it’s just ego and arrogance from the young star.

Recall that he’s the same man who made a stunningly grammatically incorrect statement in 2017 claiming Trump supporters were “uneducated.”

“I don’t think a lot of people was educated. And I think that’s one of the biggest problems that we have that when it becomes vote time, that people are just not educated on either the individual or what’s actually going on in the state of the world right now. Not that particular state, but in the state of the world. I don’t think a lot of people are educated. And they make choices and say things that are uneducated,” he said.

Yet with his recent hash of obscene behavior — which comes amid him having others ejected for behaving obscenely — it appears he’s once again shown himself to be exactly what he accuses others of being.

Vivek Saxena
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