Pierce fined $25,000

You it would be nice if the NBA explained it a little more..

what was the menacing gesture?

David Stern is such a Puritan, making the NBA players wear suits and proper attire to the game stadium and now this bullsh!t. The gesture wasnt like the middle finger or anything get over it.

Huh?

That didn't look like a 'menacing' gesture. It looks like the American Sign Language symbol for "a**hole".

I'm guessing it's some sort of gang gesture or something. He put his first finger and his thumb together on his right hand and stared at him. IT was almost an "okay" sign, but turned. I have no idea what this means, but it looked like something you'd see on "The Shield." The fine is unbelievably harsh and ubelievably stupid. So Horford gets NOTHING for screaming at Pierce while he's on the floor, but Pierce gets $25K for retaliating? What the hell? Don't they have the taunting by Horford on tape?

well, since i don't know what that sign means, i don't see anything menacing about it.
what i did see was that the reaction paul had seemed quite restrained, compared to the taunting of him that preceeded it.

Don't we have more important things to worry about that, I think the NBA might be taking themselves to seriously.

Did the league not notice Horford standing over Pierce and taunting him? You know, the move that the announcers said deserved a T?

What would have happened if he had flipped him the bird? $100,000 and 4 game suspension?

haha obviously we don't have anyone under the age of 30 here because it's clearly just a peace symbol, people often make it in pictures and it's often displayed in the rap world. It certainly doesn't seem menacing that he put up the peace sign...

this is complete BS. how about Horford standing over Peirce on the ground pumping his fist in Peirce's face?

I just hope he lights up Horford all night tonight. That'll make the 25k worth it.

i think Pierce was holding up 3 fingers as to say, "hey, it's game 3 and you guys have won 1 game, chill out and just wait till we play you on Monday"

So that wasn't taunting on the part of Horford? The UTube missed it and so did the refs but that otherwise lousy ESPN coverage did not.

Meanwhile, does anyone else think ESPN stinks? Too much chatter. Every time Keith said something, the color commentator, who happens to be a woman, chimes in. Are they paid by the spoken word? The ESPN baseball is even worse

why wasnt that ATL bum fined for taunting?

I know what the sign means. It means they need to win three more and Pierce knows the are not going to win three more so he just threw it in their face. By the way how did Horford not get at least a technical for taunting.....doesn't matter KG is just gonna dunk it in the little rookies face. I bet the Hawks lose by less than 10 tonight but get beat down by at least 30 when they come back to Boston.

Oh Good grief!!
Nothing about Horford taunting Paul
Once again the NBA is playing favorites and is rapidly becoming the same sad joke as the WWE

read between the lines

I swear paul pierce gets no respect! It is okay to give him a flagrant 2 foul in game #2 and NOTHINg happen to the offender but paul just puts 2 fingers together and is fined! Ridiculous!

Bullcrap! What a waste of time....the NBA has just escalated this

Can someone below the age of 30 tell me what the sign meant?

I HOPE THE CELTICS CRUSH NOT ONLY THE AH HAWKS, BUT EVERY ONE ELSE AND WHEN MR. STERN HAND THE TROPHY TO MR. PERCE THEN GIVE HIM SOME LOOKS SO THAT HE DONT BE A CRY BABE . RIDICULOS.

I can't believe this. He put up the "B" for Boston which Rondo did in game 1 during game 1 after playing nastily. It wasn't a gang sign. It was either what I said, or he was saying "Game 3." Wow.

They say it's a gang sign or something stupid like that. If that's the case, it's gotta go. However, it looked like the old "your an A-hole sign to me".

where's hoford's fine then... gang sign my a$$. Pierce drops 35 Celtics win by 20

Blood Killer...
http://www.fgia.com/images/lololololololo3hu_000.jpg

He put up the three's its a sign for boston if u notice the way he did it looks like a b representing boston most people show it like that.

Pierce was flashing a gang sign.

Paul Pierce is mentioned in one of Mack-10's songs.

Mack-10 is from Inglewood Family Gangster Bloods and the same neighborhood as Pierce.

If you look at the cover of the Bangin' On Wax CD, some of the blood gang members throw up the same exact sign as what Pierce threw up.

What about the other player taunting him. Yeah David Stern knows what a gang sing is!

For those who are going to the next home game. please make sure horford gets the mike bibby treatment

where's hoford's fine then... gang sign my a$$. Pierce drops 35 Celtics win by 20

dude, this guy got stabbed 19 times and not only survived, he played a month later, and he was stabbed by a gang member. this shows you how racist the league is. there is not way paulpierce flashed gang signals. that's just paranoia racism.

I love Pierce, but that was a gang sign from and its not ok that he flashed it on live tv.. sorry, hope he lights up Horford tonight..

I say the Celtics win by 20+ tonight and Pierce will have a BIG game...a big mistake getting the Celtics riled up so unnecessarily. Humility would have served the Hawks a lot better...

Horford provoked the exchange between him and PP. No place for this in the NBA and Horford should have been T'ed up. Hawks may have a tiger by the tail later tonite. Pierce has something to prove now.

BLOODs

He was throwing up the 3's for boston or saying they still have to win 3 more.. you people are stupid and obviously not from boston.. if he was throwing it up to say a-hole it is kind of ironic because that is exaclty what pierce is!

*yawn*

--what time is the sox game on...

Brooks-- I'm sure African American Stu Jackson is a real racist. Yeah, right., you dumb-dumb. What he /is/ is a former New York Knicks coach. Just like ex Yankee Bob Watson always coming down on the Sox. NY teams stink and their exes take it out on Boston teams from the league offices.

What Pierce did was nothing compared to what that a$$hole Stevenson did to Lebron James yesterday. He made a throat slashing gestrure toward James. I know that gestured is outlawed in the NFL but what about the NBA. Come on David Stern grow some ball$ and stand up to these thugs.

Im over 59 and I say the sign means his taunt means nothing,,regardless the clets will prevail

It was a Piru Bloods gang sign.

this is fine. another reason to anger the celtics - if they win by anything less than 20 tonight i will be very disappointed

Horford taunted Pierce while on the ground in a game that was decidedly over....in frustration, Pierce seemed to gesture 3 fingers...seemingly indicating it was game 3 of the series, or perhaps...they still need 3 more to win. If it was flashing a gang sign, apparently I'm out of it.

In any event, I can see the NBA stepping in, but if they're going to drop 25K on Pierce, they should have balanced that with a 25K fine on Horford for the blatant taunting... End result, Pierce will look to make a statement tonight (35-8-3)....Atlanta just made a very inexperienced and 'rookie' mistake.

Does anyone remember pierce flashing this sign when being announced?
greg dickerson reported it as an inside team sign meaning blood sweat and tears that Perce flashes before every game? I never noticed

re. Kevin McCabe... is no one monitoring this site? How can such a homophobic, bigoted - not to mention stupid - comment get through?

Pierce isn't Pierce for no reason; he'll use it as fuel. Plus, now we have a drama to watch be played out. I'm sure the network couldn't be happier. 25k is a shot in the pan for ballplayers now.

I think it's absurd that Pierce was fined $25,000 for what Sterns deemed to be a menacing gesture. Is he saying Paul Pierce is some thug punk making a gang sign? The commissioner should have to spell it out but he's allowed to beat around the bush with his "menacing" charge. He should focus more on fining and suspending players who commit reckless, flagrant fouls trying to hurt an opposing team's player. Stern isn't fit to be commissioner.

Am I the only one who thinks this is great? I wish players flashed gang signs on every night. Actually makes tonight's game watchable.

Pierce simply threw up a Blood gang sign... pretty much letting the Hawks know what the deal is, and that they better not disrespect him or take him for soft again. No big deal.

So Horford can taunt a player on the ground and get no punishment but Pierce does this and gets fined.

He is from the wood.... sign is inglewood family mafia blood sign

Give me a brake. No fouls or ejections were have called against The Hawks so for all asses and elbows they have been throwing against the Celts and they nearly decapitated Paul Pierce in the first game when he went up for a basket underneath the boards. Stu Jackson is nothing more than a PC league suck-up. The only thing I could see from Pierce's gesture was that he was indicating that Horford and the rest of the Hawks couldn't stop him from getting his shot in that time.

They just had a report on FSN and the sign means blood sweat and tears. He does this before every game with all the teammates. This is obviously not a gang sign so all of you saying it is need stop pretending you're experts and just lay off Pierce. Cut the Pierce hating.

Pierce is a thug and is in a gang. Bottom line. Ainge should trade him in the offseason. Send him back to LA!

According to Mike Gorman, Danny Ainge said that the sign that Pierce flashed was one that he flashed to his teammates for the entire season. When introduced tonight in Atlanta, he flashed the same sign. Apparently, it's a sign that the Celtics players have been using all year long to represent "blood, sweat, and tears" or something to that effect.

All I am reading is a bunch of mindless bandwagon white guys with their hat worn backwards trying to be cool. Do you think you are soo cool. It was a gang sign, forbidden in the NBA yet OMG your beloved Celtic player did it so that was cool. I hate bandwagon fans.

that the piru blood sign. Pierce is from Ingelwood and might have some loose ties to piru bloods.

gang sign means blood...he is from inglewood u know

sorry, but that was a blood gang sign! being from inglewood i know exactly what pierce meant by that... i wish it were a peace sign. not a smart move on live tv!

it means blood sweat and tears, he does it before very game, it has nothing to do with gangs..people are quick to judge aren't we ?

I'm pretty sure Pierce threw up the B sign as a representation of Boston.

he didnt mean anything wrong by he was just throwing up the 3z for boston

Yeah, Pierce was saying 3 games left so instead of throwing up his ring, middle and index finger, like normal people do, he threw up a GANG SIGN. Try googling it people, it's a gang sign. Typical Boston fans thinking that their players could never do wrong. Horford's talking smack, not flashing signs--that's why Horford didn't get fined.

Oh, and the only "statements" made tonight were by Josh and Joe. Celtics should be ashamed.

Wow u guess from beantown know nothin he threw up a bloody boston sign everybody in the hood knows that pierce is affiliated. He got stabbed by benzino a boston blood rapper over set triippin that's exactly what happened happy to school u all with knowledge

That's garbage... Josh Smith should be out of the series for that flagrant. IMO subtract all the points he had in the past 2 games from the Hawks final score and call it a series.

He gave the Three pointer gesture! Everyone and their mom has been flashing that sign this year. Watch Kobe.

That's the piru bloods sign. They're from the same neighborhood in Inglewood that PP is from.

Ya, that really motivated Pierce and the Celtics. Just enough to get torched by Joe Johnson in game 4. It WAS a gang sign by the way, anyone who refuses to believe that is just naive. The league office is dumb but coaches get hit with 25K fines just for yelling at referees after the game... not on live TV. Plus Horford shouldn't be fined just for talking trash to a guy like some of you said. That happens all the time. Pierce needs to learn to control his emotions. Remember when he got tossed from that game in the playoffs a few years ago against the Pacers? Perfect example of him not thinking clearly when the pressure is the greatest.

1) Before you rush to his defense, you may want to know it was a West Coast Bloods sign he threw up. Classy.

2) The entire Celtics team should be fined for whining like babies after every single play. Doc Rivers included.

3) You guys have a lot of nerve to complain about another team talking, considering Garnett beats his chest , and screams obscenities after every single play. Did you see how scared he was of ZaZa? Ha!!! Hilarious!!!

Got my tix for Game 6 in the HIGHLIGHT FACTORY. It's already a winning situation for us, so the pressure's all on your clovergirls... better hope your tired old stationary shooters can hang when a more athletic bunch with actual heart stands up to them...

it was just the Boston sign 3 4 da stripes

No that was a gang sign I am from Compton, California I now gang signs and the way you flash them ... the League better get a handle on this crap now because come to the Staple Center in LA and do it you could/would get shot!!!

This is prime example of a thug. He threw up a gang sign for the Bloods. He should be suspended the rest of the season. You're a professional athlete, act like one.

He should be suspended as JR Smith did..

He Threw Up a Piru Gang Sign Cuz.

In reference to what he threw up, he threw up the universal sign for bloods. Not piru, like some said(they don't really throw up the "b", seeing as how they have a different attitude than bloods, and even go as far as to wear burgundy instead of red), but bloods. Paul Pierce is from Inglewood, CA, where the dominant gang is Inglewood Family Gangsta Bloods, and just like most of the people out here, he is down by affiliation. Baron Davis is from Swan Gang(bloods), and I believe Matt Barnes is a crip.....but a lot of people bang in the league. It's like that, and I know ya'll want ya'll beloved "black athletes" act "civilized", and some are, but some do bang. It's just like that. No matter how much you decided to critize them, they're gonna bang, and ain't a damn thang any of ya'll can do about it....

...and in reference to response 70, are you serious?? KG scared of ZaZa?? Just cause someone run up don't mean they strike fear. Ain't too many people I know from the hood scared of a foreigner.....

IF YOU ARE FROM BOSTON OR HAD ANY DAMN CLUE WHAT GOES ON IN BOSTON YOU WOULD KNOW WHAT HIS HAND GESTURE MEANT. HE THREW UP THE THREE's (3's). ITS HOW PPL FROM BOSTON RECOGNIZE THEMSELVES. ITS A BOSTON THING. NOT EVERYTHING IS A GANG THING.DAMN.

ahah, thats total b.s
seriously. its a sign
who really cares.

It's definitely a Hells Angels sign.

Actually the sign that he was found making stands for Boston..

HaHa...That WAS a gang sign. Paul is from Inglewood California. Try doing that "gesture" in the streets of Inglewood (which is mostly Bloods) that the "b" he threw up isn't a gang sign.