Twitter Rips Warriors Part-Owner Who Shoved Kyle Lowry: ‘Never Attend Another NBA Game’
Twitter is having a field day over the news that the crazed fan who shoved Toronto Raptors star Kyle Lowry last night is actually billionaire Mark Stevens, a Golden State Warriors minority owner and high profile tech investor.
Stevens, who was sitting courtside for Game 3 of the NBA Finals in Oakland Wednesday night, placed his hands on Lowry after the player dove into the crowd for a ball and landed next to his seat. Lowry shouted at Stevens, who responded by cussing out the player, then complained to officials about the partial owner’s misconduct, resulting in the billionaire’s ejection during the fourth quarter — minutes before the Raptors handed his team their second loss of the Finals.
The Warriors have since released a statement announcing Stevens, who has yet to apologize or comment publicly, will not attend additional games at Oracle Arena during the series, despite the next Finals game being held in Oakland tomorrow.
“Mr. Stevens’ behavior last night did not reflect the high standards that we hope to exemplify as an organization,” the Warriors said in a statement shortly after Axios reported Stevens was the shoving culprit. “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. There is no place for such interaction between fans — or anyone — and players at an NBA game.”
Lowry went on ESPN following the altercation and told the network that “no place for people like that in our league, and hopefully he never comes back to an NBA game.”
NBA fans took to social media to mock, shame, and criticize the billionaire as well as the Warriors for not quickly condemning their partial owners’ behavior, as they waited for media reports to come out about Stevens rather than addressing it head-on. The NBA’s biggest star, LeBron James, even weighed in on the drama, posting on Instagram that “there’s absolutely no place” for Stevens’ conduct in the NBA; others noted that James himself was taunted by partial Warriors owners during a past Finals series against the team.
Check out a few of the top reactions below:
If that is Mark Stevens, he should be given a choice:
1) Sell his shares and never attend another NBA game;
2) Or stand at centercourt before Game 4, hands behind his back, and receive an open-handed slap to the face delivered by someone of Kyle Lowry’s choosing. https://t.co/54jjxTSECs
— Danny O’Neil (@dannyoneil) June 6, 2019
If Kyle Lowry walked into Mark Stevens’s office and shoved him he would be arrested. https://t.co/BzjB13s6us
— Nathaniel Friedman (@freedarko) June 6, 2019
Trying to imagine anyone who deserves to have their head knocked off more than a billionaire VC dipshit who shoves an NBA player during a game https://t.co/lzbJcjMZXh
— Patrick Monahan (@pattymo) June 6, 2019
amazing that those plugged-in Warriors beat reporters didn’t recognize a team owner right away…. https://t.co/Lo0kc8JMvV
— Laura Wagner (@laurawags) June 6, 2019
well well well
looks like one of the Warriors’ part owners doesn’t know how to act around opposing players pic.twitter.com/NXIJSDofbM
— Rawan (@rawan) June 6, 2019
Wow. Prominent venture capitalist Mark Stevens somehow managed to make the Warriors more hatable. https://t.co/NlGhFOLUWr
— Kris M. Wernowsky (@kriswernowsky) June 6, 2019
GSW released statement on Mark Stevens, the minority investor who shoved Kyle Lowry in Game 3. Will be banned from 2019 #NBAFinals for not reflecting the “high standards…we hope to exemplify.” Lowry told me Stevens shouted repeatedly, “Go f— yourself!” Belligerence was baffling
— Michael Lee (@MrMichaelLee) June 6, 2019
Lowry can’t walk into Stevens office and push him
So what’s makes Stevens think he can touch Lowry in his place of work?
— Travonne Edwards (Blk Tray) (@Travonne) June 6, 2019
nothing speaks more to the entitlement of rich basketball franchise owners more than what Stevens did to Lowry last night. and frankly, the fact that they are still “investigating” is pretty telling when the footage is ON TAPE https://t.co/9mvCszvqxf
— Andrew Sampson (@andrewsampson_) June 6, 2019
Mark Stevens should give up his stake in the team and be banned from NBA games https://t.co/nIuMnPOoRN
— Andrew Joseph (@AndyJ0seph) June 6, 2019
LeBron James weighs in on Warriors investor Mark Stevens… pic.twitter.com/za1qLNodSg
— Logan Murdock (@loganmmurdock) June 6, 2019
For all the backlash Drake got… the Warriors have a minority owner cursing at and shoving opposing players on the court?!
The NBA media is something else if they do not light Mark Stevens on fire for the next 36 hours. https://t.co/jWwREXDjxz
— Ben “Oh #23? Must be Peter Lambert, right?” Jones (@BenJonesNow) June 6, 2019
Watch the incident above, via SN.
