After breaking his nose in a game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, LeBron James decided to wear a black mask for protection in Miami Heat's game against the New York Knicks last week.

However, the NBA apparently didn't like the idea of players wearing an 'R-Kelly' Mask and ordered the reigning MVP to change it with a transparent one. What happened to the Black Mask? Well, rumours circulated that it was stolen and already sold on Ebay for $50,000.

The mask, which is reportedly made of carbon-fiber, has reportedly been stolen by an unknown person, and it was the main reason for the "NBA cover-up" of banning the protective mask, according to a source close to LeBron. Few days later, the mask was reportedly posted on Ebay and was up for bidding for a whopping $50,000.

Is it legit?

While it's cool to have LBJ's Casanova mask, the news about the stolen protective gear and the bidding on Ebay is all made-up by satirical news site Empire Sports.

The site, which fabricated stories about Justin Beiber being mauled by Los Angeles Clippers forward Blake Griffin and the Tony Romo trade to the Houston Texans, struck again with another made-up story that certainly caught the attention of numerous internet users on various social media platforms.

Here's an excerpt of the story on Empire Sports

On Saturday, however, James appeared on court wearing a clear mask. An ESPN report stated a claim by someone in the Lebron camp that he didn't wear the black mask due to a request made by the league. But news reports today show that that claim may have been a cover-up.

An individual close to James was asked on Saturday about the mask and he stated that, "someone stole the mask out of Lebron's locker."

That claim was unverified and didn't seem to hold much validity until Sunday afternoon when the mask was discovered for sale on eBay for an amazing $50,000.

61 points mask - will it hit on EBay?

If James' black mask is valuable, what more would be the transparent mask he used when he dropped 61 points against the Charlotte Bobcats last Tuesday.

In fact, Marvel Comics even created a superhero version of the Miami Heat star wearing the mask as props to his impressive performance on the floor as of late. Without a doubt, when everything said and done, LBJ's transparent mask will be a very valuable collectible for some hardcore NBA fans. Will it hit Ebay, it remains unknown.