The Nutcracker<\/a> with the National Ballet of Canada and a competitive fire and grit that made Raptors fans from coast-to-coast-to-coast fall in love with him.<\/p>\nHere\u2019s a look at the seven most memorable moments of No. 7\u2019s remarkable Raptors career.<\/p>\n
The blocked Brooklyn game-winner that started it all<\/p>\n
May 4, 2014, will go down in Raptors history as a major turning point in the franchise\u2019s history. The series started with then-Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri making a pointed message to the Brooklyn Nets and ended with Kyle Lowry getting blocked by Paul Pierce as he tried a desperate floater to win the game.<\/p>\n
Brooklyn won that series and Lowry ended up on the floor, but that helped set the tone for the run Lowry and the Raptors were about to embark upon.<\/p>\n
The teammate who would become one of Lowry\u2019s closest friends, DeMar DeRozan, proudly knelt down in front of a dejected Lowry as he held back tears with his knuckles in his eyes and gave him nothing but words of encouragement.<\/p>\n
Lowry was very nearly traded to the New York Knicks earlier that season, but that trade was reportedly blocked by Knicks owner James Dolan. In the aftermath of that, Rudy Gay was traded and the Raptors brought in pieces to go on a surprising run that saw them reach the post-season for the first time since 2008.<\/p>\n
Then that memorable playoff moment happened, coupled with that moment between Lowry and DeRozan. Lowry, who was a free agent that summer, opted to re-sign with the Raptors and take them to the playoffs six more times consecutively, culminating in 2019\u2019s NBA championship.<\/p>\n
While the 2019 title run will undoubtedly be remembered for Kawhi Leonard\u2019s heroics, when the Raptors needed it most, it was Lowry who delivered that final knockout blow.<\/p>\n
After failing to close in Game 5 at home, Lowry ensured that the 2019 Finals were going to end in Game 6 as he came out like a house on fire, going on a personal 11-2 run against the Warriors to start the game and finishing the first quarter a five-for-six from the field, including four three-pointers, scoring 15 of his 26 points in that opening frame alone to set the tone and pave the way for the Raptors first-ever, and currently only, NBA title.<\/p>\n
Though painful for Raptors fans to remember, the \u201cLeBronto\u201d era was a key part of Lowry\u2019s tenure with the club, as the team simply could never make it past LeBron James in the playoffs.<\/p>\n
This is why Feb. 23, 2016, is an important date in Raptors history.<\/p>\n
Lowry ended up going for a career-best 43 points on an ultra-efficient 15-for-20 shooting, while also adding nine assists and grabbing five rebounds. More important than all of that, however, was the step-back jumper Lowry hit in Matthew Dellavedova\u2019s eye with his foot on the line that served as the game-winner after James missed a three to try to win it with time expiring.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy first game-winner in my illustrious 10-year career,\u201d Lowry said after the game.<\/p>\n
Though it ultimately took James jumping ship to the Western Conference for the Raptors to finally get over the hump, that cold, mid-February night in 2016 was a cathartic one for Toronto fans who finally saw their team get one over The King. That it came on a career night for Lowry only proved to be icing on the cake.<\/p>\n
The greatest comeback in Raptors history<\/p>\n
Trailing by as much as 30 on Dec. 22, 2019, Lowry helped orchestrate the greatest comeback in Raptors history.<\/p>\n
Toronto entered the fourth quarter trailing by 23 and, with one of the old \u201cLowry-and-the-bench lineups that included the Raptors legend with Malcolm Miller, Terence Davis, Rondae Hollis-Jefferson and Chris Boucher, Lowry exploded for 20 points in the final period on seven-for-10 shooting from the floor and a four-for-six mark from deep as the Raptors pulled off a miraculous 110-107 victory.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not sure I\u2019ve seen anything like it,\u201d then-Toronto coach Nick Nurse said after the game.<\/p>\n
Added Boucher: \u201cAll he said was \u2018keep pushing.\u2019 He led us the right way, put us in great spots. Kyle does that every time. Even when people don\u2019t see it. Kyle\u2019s a great leader.\u201d<\/p>\n
Never one for the big spotlight himself, Lowry deflected all praise to his teammates.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t do it,\u201d Lowry said. \u201cWe had a great team effort. Malcolm, Terence Davis, Rondae and Chris Boucher. I give them all the credit today.\u201d<\/p>\n
The 53-minute masterpiece in the bubble<\/p>\n
As part of Toronto\u2019s spirited title defence during the 2020 playoffs that took place in the Disney World bubble, Lowry had one of the best games he \u2014 or anyone \u2014 ever played.<\/p>\n
In a series that had already seen Lowry throw one of the most ridiculous cross-court inbounds passes over seven-foot-five Tacko Fall to OG Anunoby who didn\u2019t shoot trying to miss in Game 3, Lowry played a career-high 53 minutes as he went for 33 points eight rebounds and six assists on 12-for-20 shooting, including an acrobatic jumper that the got to fall with 11.7 seconds in double overtime that proved to be enough to put the Raptors over the hump and force a Game 7.<\/p>\n
Lowry ended up playing the entire second half and both overtimes of that game. Even more impressive, he did so after needing stitches post-game to close a cut that opened up after he got hit in the second quarter.<\/p>\n
While Lowry will become the second Raptor to see his jersey hung up in the rafters of Scotiabank Arena, there\u2019s still a good chance he\u2019ll get to become the first Raptor immortalized with a statue.<\/p>\n
If\/when this happens, the pose they should make for Lowry is him taking charge.<\/p>\n
Of all the signature moments in Lowry\u2019s career, the one thing that most people likely remember him doing is putting his body on the line and drawing an offensive foul on the opponent.<\/p>\n
Despite being listed at just six feet, Lowry was never a defensive liability with the Raptors \u2014 far from it in fact. A big reason for this was his strength, toughness and defensive anticipation, all traits that, much to the chagrin of Raptors opponents, saw him draw 313 offensive fouls in 601 regular-season games and another 62 in 84 playoff games for Toronto.<\/p>\n
Lowry brought many skills to the table as a basketball player, but his uncanny ability to step in front of an out-of-control defender time and again is one he may be able to claim to be the greatest at.<\/p>\n
The loyalty and love for Toronto and the Raptors<\/p>\n
More than anything, Lowry will forever be loved by Raptors fans for the loyalty and love he consistently showed the city.<\/p>\n
The image of Lowry\u2019s smile after the Raptors won the 2019 Eastern Conference Finals is one that will never be forgotten, as is the sheer joy he felt upon the team actually winning it all, both in the immediate aftermath during the locker-room celebration and the parade.<\/p>\n
During Lowry\u2019s final season with the Raptors, he made it clear that he was going to retire a Raptor. Even after he left via a sign-and-trade to the Miami Heat and then to his hometown Philadelphia 76ers, he always knew where home was.<\/p>\n
During a January game this past season between the Sixers and Raptors, the home Toronto crowd demanded that Nurse check Lowry in. When the former Raptors coach acquiesced, Raptors fans went crazy, giving Lowry a standing ovation.<\/p>\n
You couldn\u2019t wipe the smile off Lowry\u2019s face in that moment.<\/p>\n
That\u2019s why it shouldn\u2019t come as any surprise that Lowry is making good on his promise that he will retire as a Raptor.<\/p>\n
The relationship between him and the franchise is akin to family. And you don\u2019t turn your back on family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"It\u2019s time to say goodbye to a Toronto \u2014 nay, a Canadian \u2014 sports icon. Fulfilling a promise…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":786274,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[194291],"tags":[49,48,3302],"class_list":["post-786273","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto","tag-ca","tag-canada","tag-toronto"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786273","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=786273"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/786273\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/786274"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=786273"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=786273"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/ca\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=786273"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}