Kyle Lowry Ready to Speak Up On And Off The Court


MIAMI – For a long time, the frown on Kyle Lowry’s face seemed to be permanently etched. As he struggled for stability early in his NBA career, he used that sharpness to rise from poor starts in Philadelphia.

“I knew I was fine,” Lowry said during breakfast here at a hotel. “I knew I was a starter. But I still had to prove it. The chip was still on my shoulder. I still had to do this, this and the other. And I still play like that.”

That determination blossomed in Toronto, where the 35-year-old Lowry provided fundamental stability over nine seasons, six All-Star berths and a championship in 2019. But all this came after he fought for court time and was traded from Memphis, which drafted him. In 2006, then Houston in their first six years in the league.

The stage is now set for Lowry’s final arc of his playing career with the Miami Heat, who hope the addition of a veteran quarterback with championship background will get them back into the title race. The Heat made it to the NBA finals in the 2019-20 season as the pandemic stagnated, but was quickly disbanded by the Milwaukee Bucks last season.

Off-season, Lowry signed a three-year contract with Miami worth approximately $90 million, joining a renewed team that is intent on making Milwaukee’s tenure in the Eastern Conference a short stay. Lowry was an award-winning free agent target after a mid-career period that has made him synonymous with the Raptors.

“We mutually agreed that the time has come,” Lowry said as he left Toronto. “It’s hard to put into words. It was just the time. For me, I knew with Miami it was the right situation, the right timing, the right place, the right people, the right everything.”

His journey in Toronto began with questions – he was the team’s backup plan after a failed attempt to take down Steve Nash – was crowned with a championship and ended in a season no one could have predicted.

The coronavirus pandemic has forced the Raptors to relocate to Tampa, Fla. for their home games in 2020-21. Toronto has rebounded after a shaky start, but the season is only to be resolved when Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet, OG Anunoby and others missed time due to virus protocols.

“The city of Tampa was great,” Lowry said. “It was difficult because we didn’t know what to expect every day. We were in fifth place, in fourth place. We reached a Covid stretch and then it was over. ”

Speculation swirled about whether the franchise would sign Lowry, who is on a one-year contract. The Heat, among other teams, made inquiries to pick him up before the March trade date.

Lowry had said before the season that he intended to help his teammates compete for another title. The team’s dismal track record made such a raid unlikely, but Lowry wanted to stay true to his word in seeing the season.

The adage that sport is a business is a fact. Every now and then the truth gets even more blurred.

In 2018, the Raptors and team president Masai Ujiri traded Lowry for DeMar DeRozan, a franchise cornerstone that brings prestige and competitiveness to the organization and is a beloved franchise in the city.

Toronto bought Kawhi Leonard from the Spurs in a trade, immediately winning a championship and fraying its relationship with DeRozan. He avoided a possible similar break with Lowry.

“Sometimes franchises have to do what’s best for them, but I was in a position where I said I had some power, no power — but a little bit of ‘Listen, this isn’t going to happen. See if we don’t work on this together,” Lowry said. We agreed that being around was the best thing to do, and that was it.

“I think this is a very different situation as DeMar doesn’t have the autonomy to make decisions. He prepared them not to do that to me.”

Lowry finished the season in Toronto and still landed with the Heat. “It was really hard for us to see such an incredible player go,” Ujiri said at a press conference in August. “We knew this was coming. The direction of our team was getting a little younger and Kyle still has these incredible goals.”

Lowry is one of several quarterbacks, including Chris Paul and Mike Conley, who are still developing effective games in their mid-30s, referring to a quality Lowry, better modern knowledge of diet and training.

“I’ve never been super athletic,” Lowry said with a laugh. “I can dunk and stuff, but I still play low to the ground. I’m not explosive. And I know how not to jump when I don’t have to.”

Lowry saw himself in a role with the Heat, an aspiring franchise for another championship. While playing for himself at an NBA Africa show in South Africa in 2017, he started a relationship with Miami Coach Erik Spoelstra. Disrupting investigations into Lowry’s signing and trade deal with the Heat, as well as the deal that allowed him to join Lonzo Ball. NBA Commissioner Adam Silver told reporters this week that the Chicago Bulls are continuing.

In Miami, Jimmy Butler became Lowry’s primary wingmate after years with DeRozan—Lowry called DeRozan “Smooth.” “He’s my best friend.”

And for Leonard: “A machine,” Lowry said. “He’ll handle it.”

DeRozan and Leonard are two of the game’s quieter personalities. Butler, though, is both a vocal and a force on the field. Lowry said that Butler often communicated through strings of profanity.

“I think it’s partly to get him moving, because he has to push himself forward somehow, which is very good,” Lowry said, and “some people just can’t stand it,” and he thinks Butler is a jerk.

“No, he’s like that,” Lowry said. “Everyone has different demands on themselves.”

Butler recently told reporters that the team had adapted to how quickly Lowry got the ball upfield.

“He’s always trying to throw the ball forward and get the guys in the right place.” servant said. “Incredible. It’s a blessing and sometimes a curse because if you’re in what we call Kyle chaos, you have to be in really great shape.”

One day Lowry hopes to retire as a Raptor. Until then, he expects his former teammates to return to the roles he and DeRozan once occupied. For example, Lowry faced criticism for missing shots in the first few games of the 2019 finals. He responded with 26 points, 10 assists and 7 rebounds to the championship win of the 6th game.

“Freddy, OG, Pascal, they have to do the interviews now and they have to do all the media. Because I’m the guy who says ‘Yo, it’s on me,'” he said. “They need to accept the criticism and that’s what will help them grow. “I want them to be champions again. I want them to have the opportunity to create wealth for generations.”

Lowry’s maturity continued away from court. He once fell into the financial trap of getting a loan before his first professional match.

“If I could do it again, I’d live in North Philly with my mom and grandma until I got a real paycheck, because then you’re just paying back the money,” Lowry said.

Lowry has made strides in venture capital and real estate and private equity investments, among other pursuits.

“I started coming out of who I am, being hard-nosed, and I started getting people in and introducing myself,” Lowry said. “My main source of income is basketball, but I have other interests and people around me who are very good. Why don’t you talk and learn something? Because when you retire you have to switch. When that time comes, I hope it won’t be long, long before I make decisions about running companies.”

The cheese is deleted. The chip on the shoulder remains. The chase continues for Lowry on and off the field.

“You’re happy, but what’s next?” said Lowry. “How do you get another pass? How do you evolve? How do you keep getting better?”



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