Chris Szagola/AP
LeBron James made his voice heard after it was revealed that the man that had shoved Kyle Lowry was a minority owner in the Golden State Warriors.
- Mark Stevens, a billionaire venture capitalist who is also a minority owner of the Golden State Warriors, shoved Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of the NBA Finals.
- Before Stevens was identified, Lowry called for the fan to be barred from ever attending an NBA game again.
- On Instagram, Lakers superstar LeBron James called for "swift action" to be taken against Stevens.
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Game 3 of the NBA Finals was forced to pause early in the fourth quarter on Wednesday night after a fan sitting courtside shoved Kyle Lowry, who had leaped into the crowd chasing after a loose ball.
On Thursday, Axios reported that the fan who shoved Lowry wasn't just any fan sitting courtside, but Mark Stevens - a billionaire venture capitalist who also owns a minority stake in the Golden State Warriors. The Warriors later confirmed his identity.
On Instagram, Lakers superstar LeBron James called out Stevens for his actions, echoing Lowry's sentiment that there is no place for such behavior in the NBA.
"There's absolutely no place in our BEAUTIFUL game for that AT ALL," wrote James. "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."
James went on to make a call for action, asking his followers to imagine what could have happened had Lowry not responded as calmly as he did.
"Something needs to be done ASAP! A swift action for his actions," wrote James. "Just think to yourself, what if @kyle_lowry7 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."
James closed his post by saying that while he had stayed quiet throughout the postseason, he simply couldn't stay quiet on this.
You can read James' post in its entirety below.
Before Stevens' identity was revealed, Lowry had called for the fan that shoved him to be barred from ever attending an NBA game again.
In a statement, the Warriors offered an apology to Lowry, adding that Stevens would not be attending any more games through the 2019 NBA Finals and that a review of the matter was still ongoing.
On Twitter, James said that barring Stevens from the remainder of the Finals was not enough.
Game 4 of the NBA Finals takes place at Golden State on Friday.
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Ok cool but still ain't enough! They did exactly what they had to do. Get in front of it before anyone else and plus there's only 4 games left(2 max in GS).
- LeBron James (@KingJames) June 6, 2019