LeBron James wants 'swift action' against Warriors part-owner who shoved Kyle Lowry

LeBron James says players need to be protected and that Mark Stevens "knew exactly what he was doing" when he shoved Kyle Lowry.

LeBron James called for "swift action" against the Golden State Warriors part-owner who shoved the Raptors' Kyle Lowry in the fourth quarter of Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

James took to social media to express his disbelief that Mark Stevens blatantly shoved Toronto's Lowry after he landed in the seats chasing a loose ball. Stevens was ejected from the game and later the Warriors announced he would not be attending any other NBA Finals games this year, but James said it wasn't enough.

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 (2 max in GS)," the Los Angeles Lakers star wrote on Twitter .

James followed up his tweet with a lengthy post on Instagram , in which he called out Stevens for knowing "exactly what he was doing" and to ask the league to do a better job of protecting players from similar situations.

"There's absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL," James wrote. "There's so many issues here.

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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! 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! #ProtectThePlayers #PrivilegeAintWelcomeHere

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on Jun 6, 2019 at 9:42am PDT

 

"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 of 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."

WATCH | Kawhi Leonard leads Raptors to Game Three glory

James also said that if the roles were reversed, the narrative would be very different. "Just think to yourself, what if Kyle Lowry would have reacted and put his hands back on him," James wrote. "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 protect[ing] himself."

National Basketball Players' Association president Michelle Roberts released a statement on Thursday expressing her concern over the incident, while NBA spokesman Mike Bass stated Stevens will not be permitted to attend games as the league reviews the incident.