Ohio DJ Brian Figula Claims LeBron Made Obscene Gesture in Photo

(Click the image to see the original version.)

A Canton, Ohio, disc jockey said LeBron James gave him an obscene gesture -- with a smile on his face -- while he was taking a photo of James in Las Vegas last weekend.

Brian Figula said James extended his middle finger after Figula yelled to him "Akron still loves you."

"He waited a second, looked at me, smiled and put out his finger," said Figula, who works for Mix 94.1 WHBC-FM.

The photo is on the radio station's web site. Figula provided the same photo to FanHouse, and the grainy shot (seen at right) shows a smiling James, wearing sunglasses and a Nike T-shirt with his middle finger extended across his face. There is no way to tell if James made the gesture as a joke, which people sometimes do, or if he was serious.

A spokesman for James said he would not comment.

Figula discussed the photo on the air on Wednesday, and Cleveland radio station WJW Channel 8 did a story on it. Figula said he had heard from numerous media outlets Thursday, including The New York Times.

Figula, who goes by the name DJ Fig on the air, said he was so surprised at what he saw he had to check the camera to make sure it had happened.



"Somebody bumped me and asked if I saw what he did," Figula said. "I did a quadruple take. The guy next to me and to the right of me elbowed me and said, 'Did you see what he did?'

"I ran back to the bar where my friends were and looked at the picture and said, 'He just flipped me off.'"

Figula said the photo was taken about 3 a.m. Sunday at Lavo, a club where James was making promotional appearances. Figula was in Vegas on an annual trip he makes with friends in the radio business. His group was in Lavo when it heard over the loudspeaker that James was making an appearance.

"It was one of those, 'Let's hear it for the King, LeBron James is in the house' kind of things," Figula said.

A group of people went to James, who was surrounded by bodyguards. Figula said he had the sense James did not want his picture taken, but he managed to get one after yelling about Akron. Figula said he was perhaps eight feet from James, so he felt confident James heard him.

Figula said he has called Nike and the NBA and asked for an apology, and he has asked his listeners to call Nike as well.

"I guess I'm a little shocked," he said. "I worked in Cleveland for three or four years since 2003 and I've never seen this side of LeBron. ... I mean, he's entitled to do what he wants. He's entitled not to say anything. He doesn't have to do anything, doesn't have to take a photo with us.

"But he doesn't have the right to flip people off, especially with a Nike shirt on."

Figula said when James was announced to the crowd early Sunday morning, there were cheers but also a lot of boos. "From Phoenix and LA fans," he quipped. At one point, James took the mike and addressed the crowd, concluding by saying he was going to play at Miami and saying "This is for all the haters" before playing a song by Lil' Wayne.

Figula said he is aware men will often use the gesture as a joke between men.

"But I didn't really go ask him if he was joking," Figula said, pointing out he could not get close to James. "I tried to think, and I couldn't recall a song or any reason to do it, a lyric or something."

The photo follows by one day an ESPN story detailing James' two days of parties in Vegas. However, ESPN shortly after pulled the story from its website, claiming it had been published in error.