LeBron James Hit With Fine Following Gesture During Overtime Win

This season has proven a tough one for LeBron James thus far, average displays, injury problems, and issues in relation to on-court discipline, and as if to prove the point, the Los Angeles Lakers star has been hit with a fine following an obscene gesture during his side’s recent 124-116 win over the Indiana Pacers.

The four-time NBA champion is said to have made the gesture after sinking a three-pointer, and it will cost the 38-year-old $15k, though one imagines that’s not a sum that will bother the multi-millionaire.

Earlier in the season, he was ejected following an elbow on Isaiah Stewart, which provoked a full on-court fracas, which saw LeBron hit with a one-game ban, the first of his lengthy NBA career. 

The Los Angeles Lakers started the season in subdued fashion following a major offseason overhaul conducted by Rob Pelinka. In recent weeks the star-studded roster available to Frank Vogel has failed to deliver more consistently, and they are now falling away, as evidenced by the Sidelines NBA betting odds, where they sit in the fourth spot behind the Brooklyn Nets, the Golden State Warriors and last season’s champions the Milwaukee Bucks, at (+1200).

The Lakers are 10-11 and need to get their house in order if they want to make it to the postseason.

Vogel’s side sits in the fourth spot in the Pacific Division with only the Sacramento Kings behind them, and a lot has to change for the Lakers, but the good news is that they have time to turn the ship back on course.

But for now, Vogel, who took the Lakers to the NBA title in his first season in charge, is under pressure, but for now, it seems his players are backing him to make the relevant impact in the remainder of the season. Anthony Davis was very vocal following their most recent defeat;

“You know, 10-11, I mean, we could go on a 10-game winning streak, 12-game winning streak, now the narrative is different,” Davis said after Friday’s loss. “You know, 10-game winning streak, we’re 20-11. We’ll shut everybody up, but it’s on us. We’re going to have to do it. It’s not going to be easy.” Davis commented.

Last season the Lakers ran out a shortened regular season with an unspectacular 42-30 record and were then dumped out of the playoffs in the first round and the arrival of Russell Westbrook, Carmelo Anthony, and others were supposed to help usher in a return to form, but it hasn’t worked out that way.

Sure, a long winning streak would be of great help to the Lakers, and Vogel in particular, but the honest fact is that the 10-11 record they have is perhaps even more than they deserve as they’ve had a fairly easy start to the schedule and should be some way better off than they are if you are judging purely on the talent available to the head coach.