INDIANAPOLIS — An obscene gesture caught on camera will cost an Indiana Pacers star big money.
The NBA announced Wednesday that guard Buddy Hield had been fined $25,000 for making the gesture during Monday's game in Charlotte.
Television cameras were showing Hield and teammate Tyrese Haliburton on the bench during the game when Hield extended his middle finger near his nose. Seconds later, he made the same gesture, this time more blatantly while holding his hand away from his face, then made it a third time.
The league said the gesture happened with 11:30 left in the second quarter.
The Pacers lost the game 115-109, squandering a 21-point first-half lead to the Hornets. Hield scored 20 points in 32 minutes of action in the game.
He is averaging 17.1 points and five rebounds per game for Indiana this season, his first full year with the Pacers.
Last month, Hield broke Reggie Miller's team record for 3-pointers in a season when he made his 230th of the season against the Chicago Bulls. Through Monday, he has 265 3-pointers on the season.
He also set an NBA record in December, making the league's fastest 3-pointer ever, hitting a shot just three seconds into the Pacers' Dec. 29 game against Cleveland. The quick 3 also broke a record set by Miller.
The Pacers are currently 32-40 on the season, 2 1/2 games behind Chicago for tenth place and the last spot in the NBA's play-in tournament. The tournament matches the seventh- through tenth-place teams in each division to determine the last two teams to make the NBA playoffs.
Indiana has 10 games left to play in the regular season, starting Wednesday night in Toronto.