NBA News: James Harden Earns Foul for Kicking LeBron James in the Groin [Watch]

James Harden was slapped with a flagrant foul for kicking LeBron James in the groin.

The Houston Rockets were playing against the Cleveland Cavaliers on Sunday, March 1 and Chron reported that early on the third quarter, LeBron James and Patrick Beverley of the Rockets were tangled on the court and had to be separated. LeBron and Beverley got called for technical fouls. Later, near the close of the same quarter, James helped his teammate James Jones double-team James Harden of the Rockets and at one point, Harden fell on the hard court. As James tried to grab the ball, Harden kicked James' groin.

In the video shown by Bleacher Report, LeBron was obviously not happy with the act. Referees and teammates rushed to separate the two before things got worse. LeBron delivered some angry statements at Harden, who was still on the ground. The players were then sent to their respective benches.

In the aftermath, Harden was called for a flagrant foul. Corey Brewer of the Rockets and Tristan Thompson of the Cavs were also given technical fouls.

ESPN reported that James said after, "Obviously that's not a basketball play. Obviously, the league will probably take a look at it. I have no idea why he would do that, but two competitors just trying to go at it, and he won this one."

When asked whether there were existing issues between the two before the game, James replied, "No. That came out of nowhere."

Harden said about the altercation, "He's a very good friend off the court. Obviously it's a battle and just trying to win a basketball game. Just competition against one of the best players in the world."

Harden also said that he did not expect to be disciplined by the NBA for his act.

James Jones, who was the other player who double-teamed Harden, said, "It was an intentional groin kick. It was an intentional kick to a troublesome area."

Rockets coach Kevin McHale said about the incident, "[Earlier in the game], I looked up and they gave Patrick a technical [along with] LeBron James for [James] pushing him down. So I didn't even look at [questionable calls] after that. I thought if you get a technical for a guy pushing your head on the floor, why the hell am I going to watch the video [of Harden]? Anything can happen at this point. I didn't even see [the kick]. Someone said that, I didn't see that. I was just trying to concentrate on trying to coach."