Video of the Mike Shumann Incident pic.twitter.com/cabZp69OIC
— warriorsworld (@warriorsworld) April 24, 2018
Bay Area sports reporter Mike Schumann “amicably parted ways” with longtime employer ABC7 during the NBA Playoffs, after he was accused of stealing the jacket of a Warriors staffer, who turned out to be Ralph Walker, the director of team security, and Curry’s personal bodyguard.
Though video of Schumann taking the jacket surfaced, details about what exactly took place remained unclear. Schumann eventually released a statement announcing he’d be leaving the station.
I regret any embarrassment I have caused the station,” Schumann wrote. “My recent actions do not reflect the high standard of conduct expected at KGO.”
On Friday, Schumann finally broke his silence on the incident, claiming in a Facebook post that he was simply taking the jacket in order to return it to it’s original owner, and that the accusations levied against him are “ridiculous.”
Here is the statement in full:
Friends I feel like I can finally share my thoughts on the recent upheaval in my life.
As you may or may not know I back in April I was accused of taking a sweatshirt that was left from a Warriors morning practice session in San Antonio. After the team had gone I noticed someone had left their warm-up sweat shirt. I picked it up with the purpose of getting it back to its rightful owner. There was no intent of theft as I returned it that evening prior to the game and everything seemed to be fine. The incident was recorded on tape from the AT&T Arena in house camera and certain members of the team decided I had intent. As someone who has worked in this stadium for years, I was well aware of the security cameras. The thought of putting myself and my family in jeopardy over a sweat shirt is ridiculous and not who I am.
The next day at practice I talked with players and the owner of the jacket, their head of security. I apologized for picking the hoodie up and creating this incident. I felt if I’d left it there someone else would take it and I would be back later that night for the game and would return it. No intent! The video made it’s way to social media and the story was published online. It went viral yet not one news outlet local or national tried to contact me for my side of the story. Headlines had been covered with taglines stating I was a alleged thief. Racial undertones on social media created an even more bitter dialogue.
The article was copy and pasted everywhere with several mistakes that had to be corrected by the Warriors PR staff. Because of the mob mentality on social media combined with the Warriors being the most popular team in all of sports, I was then convicted in a court of public opinion. It saddens me that after a decades long untarnished career this is how people have decided to remember me. My career boiled down to 45 seconds of footage.
I never had malicious intentions. There was no rightful reason or significance to take the jacket for myself.
I have worked hard to be where I am now. I cherish every moment and connection I have made along the way, including ABC, the entire Warriors team and staff. I congratulate them on winning another NBA title. I want to say thank you to everyone who has been reaching out to me and knows I meant no harm.The Warriors and ABC had to make a decision and neither turned out in my favor.
It’s a shame to see such a long career end over something so trivial and sensationalized. In truth I was just trying to do the right thing.
I hope that after my explanation of the footage and after taking into account the way in which I’ve conducted myself throughout my career people will understand what my reasoning was that morning. It was a surprise to hear that people thought I took the jacket for any purpose other than returning it to its owner.I hope that moving forward I can continue to demonstrate that this was a huge misunderstanding and I am a man of high moral character.
I had 25 untarnished years at ABC7 that proved just that. This has taken a huge toll on me,my family and my career. Thanks for all your support along the way and hope to see you soon.Feel free to share this post.
Sincerely,
Mike Shumann
According to The Athletic, who first reported on the story, Warriors players were upset with ABC7 for not taking more immediate action with Schumann. Draymond Green spoke about the incident after his team closed out the Spurs in Game 5 of the first round.
“Obviously, it’s unfortunate,” said Green. “I think, you know, what it boils down to is it’s a jacket but I think it’s more so the principle. You’re in your own space and you want to return your jacket, and all of us do, so I think it’s more so the principle than the actual thing.
“Like, you know, if I got a dollar sitting here, it’s a dollar, but it’s my dollar. I wouldn’t expect nobody to take it. That’s an unfortunate situation.”
Shumann is a former 49ers wide receiver, and was a part of the 1981 Super Bowl winning team.