NBA fines Suns’ Jackson $35,000 for ‘menacing gesture’

Phoenix Suns' Josh Jackson, left, goes up for a basket under pressure by Los Angeles Clippers' Blake Griffin during the first half of an NBA basketball game Saturday, Oct. 21, 2017, in Los Angeles. (Jae C. Hong/AP)

PHOENIX — The NBA has fined Phoenix Suns rookie Josh Jackson $35,000 for "making a menacing gesture" on the playing court and "directing inappropriate language at a fan."

The incident occurred in the Suns’ 130-88 loss to the Clippers in Los Angeles last Saturday night.

Video appeared to show Jackson forming his fingers as a pretend gun and pointing it at the fan, but Jackson disputed that characterization.

Jackson said the fan had been heckling him loudly and aggressively throughout the game and that he wrongly decided to respond.

Jackson said at first he intended to flip his middle finger at the heckler but decided against it and that indecision led to his hand appearing to be a pretend gun.

[relatedlinks]

When submitting content, please abide by our submission guidelines, and avoid posting profanity, personal attacks or harassment. Should you violate our submissions guidelines, we reserve the right to remove your comments and block your account. Sportsnet reserves the right to close a story’s comment section at any time.