The NBA announced on Thursday that Mark Stevens, a Golden State Warriors investor, was fined 500,000 U.S. dollars and banned from appearing in any NBA game or Warriors activities for a year for his improper behavior and use of obscene language toward Kyle Lowry of the Toronto Raptors in Game 3 of the 2019 NBA Finals on Wednesday.

"A team representative must be held to the highest possible standard and the conduct of Golden State Warriors investor Mark Stevens last night was beyond unacceptable and has no place in our league," said NBA spokesman Mike Bass.

"Mr. Stevens' behavior last night did not reflect the high standard that we hope to exemplify as an organization. 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," said Golden State in a release.

The ban is effective immediately and will continue to be so during the whole 2019-20 season, including the playoffs.

In the fourth quarter of Game 3, Lowry dove into a row of courtside seats when he tried to save a loose ball. As he stood up, Stevens, who was two spots away from Lowry, shoved the Raptors guard in the upper body and, according to Lowry, repeated a vulgar phrase four times to Lowry. No extra physical contact happened.

"It sucks that this has to take the front page of the finals. It's been a fun finals. It's been a competitive finals. It really sucks that this has to take part and had to be a part of it," said Lowry.

The Warriors applauded Lowry for not escalating the incident.

"Obviously, when you see the video, it's pretty clear who was in the wrong," said Stephen Curry, who added that he did not know Stevens personally.

"If Kyle was to then hit back, a lot more than a fine would have then happened to Kyle," said Draymond Green – and he was right. Since the "Malice at the Palace" between the Indiana Pacers and the Detroit Pistons in 2004, the league unveiled various policies to punish parties involved in conflicts between players and fans. Fans may be unable to watch games in the stadium while players have much more to lose, including but not limited to money and their job.

"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," wrote LeBron James of the Los Angeles Lakers on Instagram.

Stevens is a Silicon Valley billionaire and according to Golden State's media guide, he is a member of the team's six-person executive board. It remains unclear how much of stakes he has in Golden State or whether the team will continue to allow him to be a part of the organization. By the way, according to Lowry, Stevens has not apologized to him.