Bay Area rap legend and avid Golden State Warriors fan E-40 is asking the Sacramento Kings to investigate his removal from Game 1 of the Kings-Warriors first-round playoff series Saturday.
The rapper, whose real name is Earl Tywone Stevens Sr., was among a star-studded group to attend the premiere of the Northern California battle at the Golden 1 Center in Sacramento, which also marked the Kings’ first playoff appearance since 2006.
“On Saturday night, I was subjected to disrespectful heckling,” Stevens said in a statement issued to The Athletic's Shams Charania.
Claiming to have “turned around and addressed one heckler in an assertive but polite manner,” Stevens said security assumed he was the instigator and kicked him out.
The incident occurred during the fourth quarter of the Kings’ 126-123 win. Video shows that Stevens was confronted by Golden 1 Center security at his usual spot near Golden State's bench. In one video, he can be seen exchanging words with security while a blonde woman records and appears to shout at him.
Stevens is then seen leaning into a security member multiple times and saying things like “You got me f**** up, you a b****,” until a Warriors security member steps in and escorts Stevens to the tunnel.
Videos show the spectacle drew the attention of several players on the Warriors bench, including Kevin Looney. Veteran Andre Iguodala even followed Stevens into the tunnel.
"Unfortunately, it was yet another reminder that — despite my success and accolades as a musician and entrepreneur — racial bias remains prevalent. Security saw a disagreement between a Black man and a white woman and immediately assumed that I was at fault,” Stevens wrote in the statement.
He coincidently has a popular song called “Tell Me When to Go,’ which one fan referenced in sharing a video of the ejection. ESPN’s Andscape writer Marc Spears called the moment a “downer.”
Not sure what brought it to this, but to see the rap legend and Warriors super fan E-40 appear be asked to leave by Golden 1 Center security before Warriors security calmed the matter down the best they could was a downer in an otherwise amazing night of basketball. https://t.co/X5Fs5tUPqG
— Marc J. Spears (@MarcJSpears) April 16, 2023
The 55-year-old was born in the Bay Area and rose to prominence with hits like “Sprinkle Me." He popularly remixed “Choices (Yup)" during the Warriors’ 2014-15 campaign, which saw the team win its first NBA title in four decades.
Stevens added that he was “absolutely humiliated by the Kings' security team,” as someone who has attended “countless” NBA games and always taken pride in “professionalism.”
He is frequently at Chase Center, the Warriors' home arena, but has also expressed fondness for the Kings. "When Mike Bibby and Peja Stojakovic and all 'em played for the Kings I would go to Kings games, too," he said in a 2017 interview with SLAM's Abe Schwadron.
Vlade Divac, an integral Kings player of that 2000-04 era with Stojakovic, was also present for Saturday night’s game. Other former Kings Bobby Jackson and Jason Williams were in the building, in addition to home run king Barry Bonds, rapper 50 Cent and California governor Gavin Newsom.
In response to Stevens, the Kings issued a statement via Charania:
"The Sacramento Kings take these claims seriously and are investigating the facts and circumstances regarding the situation, as we do anytime an accusation like this is made."
