Lachlan Cunningham/Getty Images
Golden State Warriors minority stakeholder Mark Stevens pushed Toronto Raptors point guard Kyle Lowry after he dove into the stands during Game 3 of the NBA Finals on Wednesday night.
And Los Angeles Lakers superstar LeBron James took to Instagram on Thursday to call out Stevens for his inappropriate actions:
“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! A swift action for his actions.
“Just think to yourself, what if @kyle_lowry7 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!”
Kyle Lowry also spoke about the incident after the game:
Bleacher Report @BleacherReport
Kyle Lowry didn’t appreciate what happened in Game 3 https://t.co/a8vXBKW6I9
The Warriors released a statement and said Stevens—who was ejected from the game after pushing Lowry—would not be in attendance for any remaining NBA Finals games:
Tim Bontemps @TimBontemps
The Warriors have released a statement about last night’s incident involving Warriors investor Mark Stevens shoving Kyle Lowry, which includes an apology from the organization and says the investigation is ongoing: https://t.co/E8OQN3GPOC
James also responded to that announcement on Twitter:
LeBron James @KingJames
@Rachel__Nichols Ok cool but still ain’t enough! They did exactly what they had to do. Get in front of it before anyone else and