Raptors' Lowry fed up with fan abuse: 'It's kind of getting crazy'

A fan pushed Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry after he dove into the stands for a loose ball late in the fourth quarter of Thursday's 115-109 win over the Cleveland Cavaliers.

It's the second time a spectator courtside has made physical contact with Lowry, and the Raptors star is fed up.

"You're diving for a loose ball and a fan's pushing you, it's unbelievable man," Lowry told reporters postgame, according to Sportsnet's Michael Grange. "Our fans, our NBA fans, shouldn't be represented by people like him.

"It's the second time it's happened to me and it's kind of getting crazy because next time it happens I don't know if I'll be able to control myself and hopefully I will ... I couldn't really react because I was in mid-play, but it will come up. Fans like that shouldn't be in our buildings, in our arenas."

During Game 3 of last year's NBA Finals, Golden State Warriors minority owner Mark Stevens pushed Lowry and directed obscene language toward the All-Star guard after a similar play. Stevens was given a one-year ban from attending any league games or team activities and fined $500,000.

Last October, the NBA enacted a zero-tolerance fan code of conduct, aiming to curb abusive and hateful behavior toward players after courtside ejections more than doubled in 2018-19.

"We've added any sexist language or LGBTQ language, any denigrating language in that way, anything that is non-basketball-related," NBA executive vice president and chief security officer Jerome Pickett told The Associated Press' Tim Reynolds. "So, 'your mother' comments, talking about your family, talking about test scores, anything non-basketball-related, we've added that in as well as being something that we will go and pull a fan out of the seat and investigate what happened."