Warriors Fan Who Pushed Kyle Lowry Should Face Lifetime Ban From NBA [UPDATE]
Kyle Lowry is finally playing up to his ability in the NBA playoffs. The only offshoot of that is he’s no longer the loveable loser opposing fans enjoying taunting and teasing. Instead, they’re now pushing him as if he insulted their mother.
Here's the fan that gave Kyle Lowry a bit of a push that had Lowry frustrated pic.twitter.com/A41HCGdMAY
— Paid man gets bored (@cjzero) June 6, 2019
Not sure what the fan was thinking here, but he clearly is in the wrong. When you sit courtside, you understand there’s an inherent risk of players running into you or the people around you. That doesn’t give you the right to push them in an aggressive manner, which this fan did. Meanwhile, the women who actually got bum rushed took it like a champ and got back up. No shoving necessary.
"He reached over and put his hands on me for no reason then he said a couple vulgar words to me ... hopefully they ban him from all NBA games ever."
— SportsCenter (@SportsCenter) June 6, 2019
—Kyle Lowry to @notthefakeSVP on a fan who pushed him after he fell into the crowd pic.twitter.com/2BdmdUahF8
Gotta say Lowry is right. Like the Utah Jazz fan who got into a verbal altercation with Russell Westbrook, this fan needs to be made an example of. Kick him out of the NBA for life. Let the rest of the fans know this sort of behavior is completely intolerable. Win or lose, you gotta be better than this as a fan.
Meanwhile, the Raptors are up 2-1 in the NBA Finals and Lowry is a huge reason why after scoring 23 points in Game 3. Kawhi Leonard will get most of the credit, deservedly so, but Lowry is the Raptors X-factor and if he keeps playing like this, he should expect more scorn from Warriors fans. Pushes, not so much.
UPDATE: Axios has identified the fan as Mark Stevens, a venture capitalist and part-time owner of the Warriors. He joined the ownership group in 2013 after Vivek Randive purchased the Kings and had to give up his share with the Warriors. Read more below:
Warriors fan who shoved Raptors player is a part owner and former Sequoia Capital partner.
— Dan Primack (@danprimack) June 6, 2019
Scoop from @inafried https://t.co/WI2Qw9huvn
UPDATE II: Stevens is banned from the Finals, at least:
Warriors statement on investor Mark Stevens after the sideline incident involving Kyle Lowry in Game 3.
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) June 6, 2019
Team says he will not be attending any more Finals games and it will be investigating the incident further. pic.twitter.com/1aA3ZKzu6h