Programming note: Watch the NBA Finals pregame edition of Warriors Outsiders on Friday at 4 p.m., streaming live on the MyTeams app.
Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens shoved Toronto guard Kyle Lowry early in the fourth quarter of the Raptors' Game 3 win at Oracle Arena on Wednesday night.
Kyle Lowry was shaking his head after a courtside fan pushed him when he fell into the crowd. pic.twitter.com/5SwQv3hdnN— NBA on ESPN (@ESPNNBA) June 6, 2019
On Thursday morning, Golden State announced that Stevens is banned from attending any remaining NBA Finals games at Oracle Arena.
On Thursday afternoon, Klay Thompson -- who will play in Game 4 on Friday night -- offered his thoughts on the incident.
Sports
"It was unfortunate. It wasn't very cool," he told reporters. "We'll give him a little benefit of the doubt because I think that was his significant other that got toppled. It wasn't like he threw a hard punch, just kind of a forceful shove.
"He shouldn't have done it, and I know he knows that. I think he'll make amends and move on. That's what life's about."
[RELATED: LeBron reacts passionately to incident with Dubs part-owner]
Shortly after Klay spoke to the media, the franchise and NBA issued a joint release announcing further sanctions on Stevens:
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 $500,000 for pushing and directing obscene language toward the Toronto Raptors' Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of The Finals last night.
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.
Based on social media reaction and this recent development, it's safe to assume Klay might receive some backlash for giving Stevens any benefit of the doubt.
Also, the aforementioned "significant other" didn't get toppled at all:
A couple things from the Kyle Lowry-Mark Stevens incident:
1) not good that the woman next to Stevens was reaching for the loose ball
2) the woman was totally cool with Lowry and patted him on the back
3) absolutely no excuse for Stevens shoving Lowry pic.twitter.com/KQnMpl51JC— Drew Shiller (@DrewShiller) June 6, 2019
Unfortunately, there definitely will be more to this story in the coming days and weeks.
