The NBA issued a statement on Warriors investor Mark Stevens' shoving Raptors G Kyle Lowry during last night's NBA Finals Game 3, saying, "As the review of this matter continues, Mr. Stevens will not be permitted to attend NBA games." The league also stated a team representative "must be held to the highest possible standard," and Stevens' conduct was "beyond unacceptable and has no place in our league" (THE DAILY). A source said that Stevens also "has been suspended indefinitely from any Warriors activities" (SFCHRONICLE.com, 6/6).

ESPN's Ramona Shelburne said, "What happens next ... is going to be very interesting. Do they go after him more aggressively than they would a typical fan because he is associated with the organization? I don't know. This is rather unprecedented in the NBA.” Shelburne added a source told her Stevens is “horrified by what happened and really feels bad about this and intends to make amends for his actions” (“OTL,” ESPN, 6/6).

LeBron James weighed in on Twitter, responding specifically to the Warriors banning Stevens from the remainder of the Finals: "Still ain’t enough! They did exactly what they had to do. Get in front of it before anyone else and plus there’s only 4 games left(2 max in GS)" (TWITTER.com, 6/6).

The 76ers-owned esports organization Dignitas today will announce a merger with Rockets-owned Clutch Gaming. It is believed to be the first merger of two NBA-owned esports franchises. Precise terms are not being released, but Dignitas CEO Michael Prindiville told THE DAILY that Harris Blitzer Sports & Entertainment, which owns the 76ers and Devils, will be the majority partner. Clutch will keep a minority stake, but it will be a significant one.

Prindiville has been putting the deal together since late February. He said that it is a win-win for both sides. Dignitas will get access to Riot Games’ League of Legends Championship Series, while Clutch becomes aligned with a more resourced, pedigreed and diverse esports organization in Dignitas, which has been around since ’03 and fields teams in six different games. Clutch will remain under that banner for the rest of the ’19 season before rebranding under the Dignitas banner for ’20.

Tom Brady today elaborated on his much publicized attempt to trademark "Tom Terrific," claiming that he "dislikes the nickname, and only wanted to trademark it so that no one else could associate the nickname with him." Brady: "I want to make sure no one used it because some people wanted to use it. I was trying to keep people from using it, and then it got spun around to something different than what it was." Brady added that he "meant no disrespect" to Baseball HOFer Tom Seaver and has "no plans of commercializing the nickname" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 6/6).

Members of the Patriots' Super Bowl LIII team will receive their championship rings tonight in a ceremony at the home of team Owner Robert Kraft. The Super Bowl ring reveal "has become an event unto itself whenever it happens" in New England. The team "built up some hype" yesterday by sharing a video that "shows a few first looks at what this year’s rings will look like" (BOSTON.CBSLOCAL.com, 6/5). The ceremony "puts an end to the speculation" that Tom Brady "could be the Bruins’ banner captain at TD Garden" for tonight's Stanley Cup Final Game 5 (WEEI.com, 6/6).

👀 pic.twitter.com/TicUFhzzgM

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) June 5, 2019

Spanish youth soccer tournament MicFootball, held annually in the Costa Brava region of Catalonia, Spain, will hold its first North American edition in November in Florida. MicFootball is partnering with ISL, which manages Barcelona’s U.S. academies, on the event. This year’s tournament will feature 128 men’s and women’s teams in different age groups (PALCO23.com, 6/6).

NBC's “Today” show visited Wrigley Field for its "On The Job" segment, with correspondent Dylan Dreyer shadowing authenticator Mike Barz while donning a Cubs jersey. Barz: “Basically, I'm an independent contractor with Major League Baseball, and we watch the game and authenticate items from that game: bats, balls, jerseys.” MLB Authentication Program Dir Michael Posner said that the program was founded after the FBI in the late '90s "determined that about 75% of all autographs in the market were fake," so MLB "decided to protect our players, our fans and the clubs." Dreyer noted every MLB team “has their own authenticators, and all of them are either active or former law enforcement.”

Dreyer followed Barz around the ballpark, watched Cubs LF Kyle Schwarber sign baseballs, and then authenticated her first baseball by applying a tamper-free hologram sticker. Dreyer also talked up the Cubs' team store, saying, “The coolest part is all the money from these items that sold -- we’re talking millions of dollars -- goes to Cubs charities” (“Today,” NBC, 6/6). Watch the full segment.

Hawks Talon Gaming has signed Northside Hospital Sports Medicine Network as the NBA 2K league team's official sports medicine provider. The hospital will add its logo to the left and right sleeves of the team's jerseys (Hawks).

The opening to tonight’s Game 5 broadcast of the Blues-Bruins Stanley Cup Final on NBC will feature scenes from Boston Common, Quincy Market, Acorn Street, and Fan Pier "flash across the screen as a Boston Symphony Orchestra quintet plays the Dropkick Murphys’ 'I’m Shipping Up to Boston'" (BOSTONGLOBE.com, 6/6).

"Without a doubt. What Atlanta United has caused in just two years, it should be considered. What the fans and what the city have produced each weekend, I think the city should be considered" -- Mexican national team manager Gerardo Martino on whether the site should be prioritized as a '26 FIFA World Cup host. Martino's club played Venezuela yesterday in Mercedes-Benz Stadium,  (ATLANTA JOURNAL-CONSTITUTION, 6/6).

“The rest of the world is catching up. They’re supporting their women’s programs. They’re funding their women's programs” -- ESPN’s Julie Foudy, on the number of quality teams in this year's FIFA Women’s World Cup (“OTL,” ESPN, 6/6).

A sports network should use @RattoIndy in an Andy Rooney-role to end a show. Put him in his home office with a camera and a few minutes to riff. No edits. Roll it.

— Paul Pabst (@PaulPabst) June 6, 2019

Very cool moment at Gillette Stadium this morning: Patriots LS Joe Cardona, a graduate of the U.S. Naval Academy, was promoted to the rank of Lieutenant. A special honor that takes place on the 75th anniversary of D Day.

— Field Yates (@FieldYates) June 6, 2019

Just spoke to Nicole Curran, the wife of Warriors owner Joe Lacob, about the “incident “ with Beyoncé last night. She was in tears. Said she had been getting death threats on social media all night this morning she disabled her IG account just to make it stop.

— Ramona Shelburne (@ramonashelburne) June 6, 2019

At Chase Center, you'll be able to order robot butlers to do your shoving for you.

— Mike Richman (@mikegrich) June 6, 2019

If you see a tweet we will not want to miss, send it to us at editorial@sportsbusinessdaily.com.

The '19 Wisconsin Sports Awards presented by Fiduciary Management and American Family Insurance will take place at Fiserv Forum starting at 5:00pm CT. 

NYCFC will take on FC Cincinnati at 7:00pm ET for its annual Pride Match.

The FIFA Women's World Cup kicks off tomorrow, and Fox Soccer promotes its coverage with some "Everything You Need To Know" videos about the USWNT specifically and the tournament itself.

102,000 -- The combined average minute audience for ESPN’s “Hoops Streams” through three NBA Finals games across the ESPN app, Twitter and YouTube. The show, which is a one-hour pregame hosted by Cassidy Hubbarth featuring Kendrick Perkins and other commentators, was available only on Twitter last season (Austin Karp, THE DAILY).