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LeBron James Responds to Warriors Part-Owner Shoving Kyle Lowry

By Zack Jiang

The NBA's ongoing issue with overly aggressive fans was put on full display at Game 3 of the NBA Finals Wednesday night in Oakland. During the contest, Raptors All-Star Kyle Lowry flew into the stands during a play while trying to save the ball. As Lowry was getting up, a Golden State fan shoved him.

What made matters worse was that the aggressive fan was actually a part-owner of the Warriors, venture capitalist Mark Stevens. He was subsequently banned by the Warriors from attending the rest of the NBA Finals, but a number of players clearly weren't going to be satisfied with that. LeBron James took to Instagram to give a length response to disgraceful act by the entitled Stevens.

View this post on Instagram

?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 @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. I’ve been quite throughout the whole NBA playoffs watching every game (haven’t missed one) but after I saw what I saw last night, took time to let it manifest into my thinking ? I couldn’t and wouldn’t be quiet on this! #ProtectThePlayers #PrivilegeAintWelcomeHere

A post shared by LeBron James (@kingjames) on

The punishment given was far too light, and James was absolutely right to voice his displeasure. In his response, he pointed out the double standard of fan aggression versus player aggression, and how the public would have surely reacted if Lowry had retaliated in any way.

Luckily, the NBA has now banned the minority owner from all games until further notice, a far more appropriate punishment. The aggressive act was unacceptable, and Stevens needed to be hit where it hurts, in a manner of speaking.

Fan interactions have been a major issue this season for the NBA. The league made the right decision by taking a hard stance on Stevens, though there is still work to be done to address the occasionally ugly issues that arise from fans getting a little too close to the action-- no matter who they are.