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Pacers' Paul George fined $15K for kicking ball into stands, hitting woman

Dan Devine
·Senior NBA writer

Indiana Pacers forward Paul George has been fined $15,000 for kicking a basketball into the stands at Bankers Life Fieldhouse on Saturday night and hitting a young woman in the face in the process, the NBA announced Tuesday.

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With 1:42 remaining in the third quarter of the game between the Pacers and the visiting Chicago Bulls, George got ticked off at being called for a foul while defending a driving Jimmy Butler. Frustrated, he kicked the bouncing ball in front of him on the baseline. Perhaps he intended to bounce it off the stanchion; instead, though, it sailed into the crowd, hitting a young woman sitting near the court in the face.

When the refs realized what had gone on, they immediately hit George with a technical foul and ejected him from the game. He finished with 13 points, seven rebounds, three assists and two steals in 29 minutes of play, and the Pacers breezed to a 111-94 win.

George quickly apologized to the young woman, who, as it turns out, was actually one of his co-workers. From Nate Taylor of the Indianapolis Star:

The ball hit Lindsey Yeager, a Pacers employee working with the Fox Sports Indiana television crew, in the face.

“I literally sat down for two minutes,” said Yeager, who was visiting with Gabbi, her 17-year-old sister, in the third row behind the basket. “I was not looking because the ball was dead. I just barely saw the ball from my peripheral vision when I started to turn my head. It hit me right in the head.” […]

“He was just like, ‘Hey, I’m sorry,’” said Yeager, who is in her second season working for the Pacers. “He hugged me real fast. I’ve said hi to him several times, so I don’t know if he recognized my face or not since I was sitting there. Probably not, but he probably will next time I pass him.”

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Just to make sure there were no hard feelings, George reportedly sent Yeager flowers and an apology note after the fact:

Lindsey,

I’m sorry for the ball hitting you at the game on Saturday. It was not intentional. I hope you are feeling okay.

Paul George

That’s very sweet. Not “get out of a $15,000 fine” sweet, but hey, you get points for trying. (Which is more than we can say for the Pacers’ defense, but that’s another story.)

Also, if you’re keeping score: kicking a ball into the stands and hitting somebody costs $15,000, while throwing a mouthpiece, walking into the stands, and not hitting anybody with anything costs $25,000. Please update your projectile-related discipline files.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don’t Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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