NBA Commissioner Adam Silver explains why Warriors investor Mark Stevens was given a one-year ban instead of a life-time ban pic.twitter.com/54dxMMObCc
— Mark Medina (@MarkG_Medina) June 6, 2019
Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals was one marked by everything that happened off the court; Klay Thompson, Kevin Durant and Kevon Looney’s injuries, a light fixture which almost hit a Raptors broadcaster, a confounding internet attack on Warriors owner Joe Lacob’s wife, Nicole Curran, by Beyonce fans, and the most contentious incident of all, the Warriors part-owner, Mark Stevens, shoving of and cursing at Kyle Lowry, before then being suspended for a year and fined $500,000 by the Warriors and NBA.
Stevens told Lowry to, “Go f**k yourself,” multiple times after shoving him, according to Lowry. It raised the question as to why Stevens was banned only for a year, and not permanently, from the NBA,
Reporter: "Can you confirm what the guy said to you, 'to go blank yourself' is that accurate?"
Kyle Lowry: "Yeah. Multiple times." pic.twitter.com/6btM0qs8qw
— ESPN (@espn) June 6, 2019
NBA Commissioner Adam Silver answered the question on Thursday by saying that the NBA had reviewed the footage of the incident and conducted interviews with Lowry, others, and a “contrite… apologetic” Stevens, and deemed the punishment appropriate.
Warriors head coach Steve Kerr said he would personally apologize to Lowry for Stevens’ “unacceptable” actions:
Steve Kerr on Kyle Lowry incident: pic.twitter.com/JCUcGCHpFr
— Melissa Rohlin (@melissarohlin) June 6, 2019
Stevens put out his own statement below, saying, amongst other things, “I take full responsibility for my actions last night at the NBA Finals and am embarrassed by what transpired.”
Here’s a statement from Mark Stevens on his actions last night: pic.twitter.com/p1msH4Pj8y
— Tim Bontemps (@TimBontemps) June 6, 2019
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