The NBA world had a strong reaction to the fourth-quarter incident between Kyle Lowry and Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens.
During Wednesday’s Game 3, Lowry dove into the stands as he tried to save a loose ball and came crashing hard into fans in the first row. Stevens, who was identified on Thursday, wasn’t a part of the collision, but he reached out to push the Raptors guard.
In the immediate aftermath of the exchange, Lowry called for the fan to be banned from NBA games. The Warriors eventually released a statement that Stevens would not attend any NBA Finals games. The league added that Stevens would be banned from NBA games for one year and fined $500,000.
But now that Lowry knows who pushed him, he wants to see an even stronger stance taken against Stevens. He offered his reaction to reporters during a Thursday press conference. Lowry said that Stevens told him to “go (expletive)” himself and wanted the league to take strong action.
Lowry said:
“What I think and what I feel is a guy like that shouldn’t be a part of our league. I’m being honest with you. That’s my personal opinion. That’s just how I feel. We’ve had situations like this before, and the league’s done the right thing and that’s protecting the players and protecting the image of the league.”
Lowry went on to thank the Warriors players for their support. He also added that he texted LeBron James to thank him for backing him up.
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