Golden State Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens has been suspended from attending NBA games and team activities for a year and fined USD 500,000 after shoving Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry on Wednesday.
Toronto's Lowry flew into the seats while chasing after the ball early in the fourth quarter of the Raptors' 123-109 win over the Warriors in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, landing on several courtside spectators. Lowry was trying to regain his balance when Warriors part-owner Stevens reached over two seats and shoved the Toronto guard.
Read | Three takeaways from Raptors' Game 3 road win over Warriors
After Stevens — who was later escorted out of Oracle Arena — was identified, the league announced their sanction on Thursday.
"The NBA and the Golden State Warriors today announced that Warriors investor Mark Stevens has been banned from attending NBA games and Warriors team activities for one year and has been fined USD 500,000 for pushing and directing obscene language toward the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of The Finals last night," the statement read.
"The incident occurred with 10:37 remaining in the fourth quarter when Lowry dived into the spectator stands while chasing a loose ball. Stevens' ban is effective immediately and carries through the 2019-20 NBA season, including the postseason."
Following the incident in the Bay Area, Lowry told reporters: "There's no place for that. 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."
"More should be done," Lowry added. "He's not a good look for the ownership group they have. A guy like that showing his true class, he shouldn't be a part of our league. There's no place for that."
The Warriors, who trail 2-1 in the series, will host the Raptors in Game 4 of the NBA Finals on Friday.
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