OAKLAND – Kyle Lowry found top form in in Toronto's vital Game 3 victory over the Warriors, leaving the Raptors just two wins away from their first NBA championship.
He scored 23 efficient points, locked inside and outside the arc in a 123-109 win over the Warriors at Oracle Arena.
Lowry wasn't able to bask in a job well done. Thursday afternoon was spent dealing with what was done to him trying to save possession on a ball headed out of bounds. That's when a man later identified as Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens went out of his way to shove Lowry and shower him with obscenities.
Lowry answered two basketball questions on the eve of Friday's pivotal Game 4. The rest of what should've been a moment in the sun was spent on Stevens.
That, in his view, is unfortunate.
"It sucks, because we just want to play basketball," Lowry said before Thursday's Raptors practice at Oracle Arena. "We just want to win a championship. …The game takes a backseat because of this."
The Warriors announced after Lowry's press conference that Stevens will be banned for a year and fined $500,000 for his actions Wednesday night.
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Lowry doesn't think that's far enough. He wanted more, even before the punishment was levied.
"A guy like that shouldn't be a part of our league," Lowry said. "That's my personal opinion. That's how I feel. We've had situations like this before and the NBA has done the right thing in protecting their players and the image of the league."
Lowry couldn't help but imagine if he had retaliated after getting shoved while in a vulnerable position, when being told to go f--- himself. Lowry didn't put hands on Stevens. He told officials about the incident, went back to his team and tried to calm down.
Admittedly, he was pissed. Lowry says teammate Marc Gasol helped and others got him re-focused on beating the Warriors.
"It definitely kind of brought me back quicker," Lowry said. "I knew it would be a big deal, but I didn't know it would be as big of a deal as him being a part of the group that writes the checks."
Lowry has received praise for how he handled the situation and its aftermath, both in private texts from his peers and public statements of support from across the league, including from LeBron James, and he's proud to have showed restraint in a spot where others have lashed back at fans sitting courtside.
"Yeah, it could've gone the other way," Lowry said. "It definitely could've gone bad, but I'm bigger than him as a person. My kids are more important to me than he is to me. I have to make sure that I always think of my kids first. That's what it's all about."
Lowry doesn't want a personal apology from Stevens. Not at this stage, when it would likely emerge from severe backlash these past 24 hours and he taken as hollow.
"I don't know him. I don't care to know him," Lowry said. "He showed his true colors at the time. And you show what you're really about in that time and at that moment.
"…In the heat of the moment, when the pressure and the tightness is on you, you show who you really are."
Lowry said he wouldn't address the situation again, preferring to shift focus back to basketball during a series loaded with on-court storylines. He was disappointed that anything distracted from that.
"It sucks that this has to take the front page of the Finals," Lowry said. "It has been a fun Finals. It has been a competitive Finals. It really sucks that this had to be a part of it."
