Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry is furious that a Golden State Warriors fan reached over several seats and gave him a shove after the player crashed into the front row sideline seats during a dive for the ball.
Except, as it turns out, this was no ordinary fan. The man who shoved Lowry is Mark Stevens, a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors.
Lowry scrambled for a loose ball during game three of the NBA finals Wednesday and went headlong into a row of floor seats when the incident occurred, according to the New York Post.
As the five-time NBA All-Star was trying to get up from the boards, a man reached over a few seats and gave Lowery a shove to the shoulder. After he stood, a female fan then gave him a pat on the back. And the player was visibly disgusted, shaking his head as he walked away from the sidelines.
The Warriors announced that Stevens has been banned from attending the rest of the series. The team also released a statement on the incident
According to SFGate:
‘Mr. Stevens’ behavior last night did not reflect the high standards that we hope to exemplify as an organization,” the Warriors said in a news release Thursday morning. “We’re extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct. There is no place for such interaction between fans — or anyone — and players at an NBA game.’
Lowry was incensed by Stevens’ behavior.
“As for that fan, there’s no place for that,” Lowry said after the game. “He had no reason to touch me. He had no reason to reach over two seats and then say some vulgar language, there’s no place for people like that in the league.
“Hopefully he never comes back to an NBA game,” Lowry added.
Stevens was ejected from the game.
Follow Warner Todd Huston on Twitter @warnerthuston.
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