Raptors Star Kyle Lowry Pushed By Warriors Part Owner, Team Apologizes & Owner Suspended For One Season From NBA, LeBron James Reacts

Raptors Star Kyle Lowry Pushed By Warriors Part Owner, Team Apologizes & Owner Suspended For One Season From NBA, LeBron James Reacts

In game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night, Toronto Raptor’s All-Star guard, Kyle Lowry was pushed by a fan as he jumped into the crowd to save a loose ball from going out of bounds. While scrambling for the loose ball, what transpired afterwards was not just a fan pushing Lowry out of the way. The man who can be seen pushing Lowry is part owner and team investor of the opposing team, Golden State Warriors, Mark Stevens. In a recent interview, Lowry tells his side of the story. He says,

“He reached over and put his hands on me for no reason then he said a couple vulgar words to me and repeated them.”

"He reached over & put his hands on me for no reason then he said a couple vulgar words to me & repeated them…hopefully they ban him from all NBA games ever."

Kyle Lowry on the fan who pushed him after he fell into the crowd

(Via @SportsCenter)

pic.twitter.com/Z6tz6u0Eqc

— Ballislife.com (@Ballislife) June 6, 2019

Before part owner Stevens was identified as the man who pushed him, Lowry said he should be banned “forever” from NBA games.

“He had no reason to touch me. He had no reason to reach over two seats and then say some vulgar language to me. There’s no place for people like that in our league. Hopefully, he never comes back to an NBA game.”

Fast forward to Thursday, The Warriors released a statement on the incident during the finals with Stevens pushing Lowry. Their statement includes an apology to the Raptors and Lowry.

“Mr. Stevens’ behavior las night did not reflect the high standards that we hope to exemplify as an organization. We’re extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry an the Tornoto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct. There is no place for such interaction between fans or anyone and players at an NBA game.”

The statement continues adding Stevens will not continue to be on the sidelines for the remainder of the team’s game this season.

“Mr. Stevens will not be in attendance at any of the remaining games of the 2019 NBA Finals. Review of this matter is ongoing.”

One particular player took his time to express his thoughts on the push-gate incident during Game 3, Los Angeles Lakers, LeBron James. He says on Twitter that there are only at most, 4 remaining game left in the season and Stevens punishment is not enough.

“Ok cool but still ain’t enough! They did exactly what they had to do. Get in front of it before anyone else and plus there’s only 4 games left.”

The superstar player continued stating that he would like something more severe to be done to protect the players during court side interactions with fans.

“There’s absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL. There’s so many issues here. When you sit courtside you absolutely know what comes with being on the floor and if you don’t know it’s on the back on the ticket itself that states the guidelines. But he himself being a fan but more importantly PART-OWNER of the Warriors knew exactly what he was doing which was so uncalled for. He knew the rules more than just the average person sitting watching the game courtside so for that Something needs to be done ASAP!”

James continues his statement posing the question if Lowry would have reacted to being shoved by the part owner his consequences would be quick and possibly jailed.

“A swift action for his actions. Just think to yourself, what if Kyle Lowry would have reacted and put his hands back on him. You guys would be going CRAZY!! Calling for him to damn near be put in jail let alone being suspended for the rest of the Finals all because he was protected himself. I’ve been quite throughout the whole NBA playoffs watching every game (haven’t missed one) but after I saw what I saw last night, took time to let it manifest into my thinking I couldn’t and wouldn’t be quiet on this.”

As of Thursday afternoon, the NBA has officially suspended Stevens for a year and handed the part owner a finer of a half of a million dollars for pushing Lowry during an out of bounds play, according to reports.

Earlier this year, as reported, Oklahoma City Thunder point guard Russell Westbrook was captured on video threatening a Utah Jazz fan next to the Thunder bench. According to Westbrook, the fan told him to “get down on your knees like you’re used to,” which provoked a response from Westbrook.

In a video, you can hear the former NBA MVP’s frustration as he speaks to a bystander about the fan’s disrespect.

“I”m say one thing, I’ll f*ck him up. I promise you. You think I’m playing. I swear to God. I’ll f*ck you up. You and your wife. Nah, f*ck that!”

Things get heated between Russell Westbrook and Utah Jazz fans again. “I’ll f*ck you up. You and your wife,” he says. Not sure what these fans said to him, but he also had issues with Jazz fans during the postseason. pic.twitter.com/LquwRmLVNy

— Eric Woodyard (@E_Woodyard) March 12, 2019

Toronto leads the best-of-seven series 2-1 after the Raptors’ 123-109 victory on Wednesday. The Warriors host Game 4 on Friday (9 p.m. ET, ABC).

What are your thoughts on Stevens pushing Kyle Lowry during Game 3? Let us know in the comments!