Golden State Warriors guard Klay Thompson gave Mark Stevens — the recently banned fan who happens to be a minority owner of the team — the benefit of the doubt regarding the incident with Toronto Raptors guard Kyle Lowry in Game 3 of the NBA Finals.

Per Drew Shiller of NBC Sports, Klay Thompson gave Mark Stevens the ‘little benefit of the doubt' since he believes it was the investor's wife who got toppled. Nevertheless, Thompson said that he still shouldn't have pushed Lowry.

“It was unfortunate. It wasn't very cool,” he told reporters. “We'll give him a little benefit of the doubt because I think that was his significant other that got toppled. It wasn't like he threw a hard punch, just kind of a forceful shove.

“He shouldn't have done it, and I know he knows that. I think he'll make amends and move on. That's what life's about.”

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A closer look at the incident reveals the woman that Thompson referred to was okay with Lowry and even patted the guard on the back. Given this, among all other factors, Stevens' shove was uncalled for and unnecessary.

Good thing that the NBA has already handed him a sanction. Right after Thompson's interview, the NBA and the Warriors have announced a joint statement regarding the sanction on Stevens. He has been banned from attending NBA games and Warriors team activities for one year and has been fined $500,000 for pushing and directing obscene language toward the Toronto Raptors’ Kyle Lowry during Game 3 of The Finals.