Warriors Part-Owner Mark Stevens Banned for 1 Year, Fined for Pushing Kyle Lowry
June 6, 2019
Golden State Warriors part-owner Mark Stevens will not be permitted to attend NBA games for one year after he shoved Kyle Lowry in Game 3 of the NBA Finals, per Shams Charania of The Athletic and Stadium.
Per Charania, Stevens was also fined $500,000 for the action.
"A team representative must be held to the highest possible standard and the conduct of Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens last night was beyond unacceptable and has no place in our league," the NBA said in a press release. "As the review of this matter continues, Mr. Stevens will not be permitted to attend NBA games."
Stevens provided a statement on the situation, per 95.7 The Game:
"I take full responsibility for my actions last night at the NBA Finals and am embarrassed by what transpired. What I did was wrong and there is no excuse for it. Mr. Lowry deserves better and I have reached out today in an attempt to directly apologize to him and other members of the Raptors and Warriors organizations. I'm grateful to those who accepted my calls. I hope that Mr. Lowry and others impacted by this lapse in judgement understand that the behavior I demonstrated last night does not reflect the person I am or have been throughout my life. I made a mistake and I'm truly sorry. I need to be better and look forward to making it right.
"I fully accept the punishment administered by the NBA and the Warriors."
The Boston Globe's Gary Washburn shared comments from NBA commissioner Adam Silver:
The Warriors previously said Stevens would not be allowed to attend games for the remainder of the 2019 Finals.
"Mr. Stevens' behavior last night did not reflect the high standard that we hope to exemplify as an organization," the Warriors said in a press release. "We're extremely disappointed in his actions and, along with Mr. Stevens, offer our sincere apology to Kyle Lowry and the Toronto Raptors organization for this unfortunate misconduct."
Dylan Byers of NBC News also reported Stevens will likely be forced to sell his shares of the team before next season.
Stevens' behavior has taken harsh criticism since the end of Game 3, with Lowry calling for swift action.
"There's no place for that," Lowry told reporters. "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...Hopefully, he never comes back to an NBA game."
LeBron James also spoke out on the matter in an Instagram post Thursday:
"There's absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL. There's so many issues here. When you sit courtside you absolutely know what comes with being on the floor and if you don't know it's on the back on the ticket itself that states the guidelines. But he himself being a fan but more importantly PART-OWNER of the Warriors knew exactly what he was doing which was so uncalled for. He knew the rules more than just the average person sitting watching the game courtside so for that Something needs to be done ASAP! A swift action for his actions. Just think to yourself, what if [Lowry] would have reacted and put his hands back on him. You guys would be going CRAZY!! Calling for him to damn near be put in jail let alone being suspended for the rest of the Finals all because he was protected himself."
The borderline unprecedented nature of the incident makes it hard to know what type of punishment Stevens will face long term.