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Tim BontempsESPN
Toronto Raptors goalkeeper Kyle Lowry repeatedly insisted Wednesday night that he did not know what would happen so far by the NBA trading deadline of 3 p.m. ET.
But that didn’t stop an air of finality from standing over after a 135-111 victory over visitor Denver Nuggets, as the biggest player in the history of the Raptors franchise spoke to the media about what will likely be his last time. in a uniform Toronto.
“It was kind of weird tonight not knowing what the next step would be, just with the understanding that there are things that could be done,” Lowry said. “It was different tonight, for sure.
“I mean, who knows what will happen? Nobody knows what will happen. But it was definitely, definitely, different.”
Although the Raptors victory managed to win a series of nine-game victories, giving them their first victory on February 26, the focus after the game was focused almost exclusively on what will happen on Thursday, when the Raptors will not play a game, but instead will have potentially removed two strong members of the team’s massive success in recent seasons in Lowry and guard Norman Powell.
Both players have expiring contracts, and Toronto falling in the eastern standings and in the middle of a season in Tampa, Florida, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, enters on Thursday as two of the best players who could change teams.
It was a big enough opportunity for Canadian icon – and frequent Raptors fan in the yard – Drake to speak to Lowry via FaceTime in the middle of Lowry’s post-game media session, offering to translate his media responses – a quote from Lowry refused.
Lowry began his media session by greeting the five women from Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment – Meghan McPeak, Kia Nurse, Kate Beirness, Amy Audibert and Kayla Gray – who earlier became the first all-female NBA broadcast crew. He spoke fondly of his time in Toronto. He talked about how, after a few years up and down his career, he found a home with the Raptors, the team that turned him into a star and future Hall of Famer and with which he won a championship two seasons ago. .
“Well, I think if you come back, [then-Raptors general manager] Bryan Colangelo changed for me to become – unfortunately, they missed Steve Nash – and he changed me to become a goalkeeper, “Lowry said, referring to the job that took him to Toronto from Houston in 2012. . ” made to give me the keys. And honestly, as you know, I wanted to take advantage of that.
“I think he clicked more on the fact that, you know, they believed in me, right, the organization believed in me from the top down … everyone, from the top down, believed in me and what I could do as an individual player and as a leader, so I think this would really help, you know, kind of, you know, click on everything, put everything together. “
The same sentimentality about Lowry’s time in Toronto translated for his teammates and coaches – they all left for Toronto after Lowry did it.
“We really grew together,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “When I first came here, I was new to the NBA and he wasn’t really a starting player, as a legitimate start.
“So it was this increase to six times the All-Star, Olympic gold medal and an NBA title, which is really incredible for Kyle Lowry, I think. And he’s the most broken or he’s very up there on all the records. He will descend as the greatest Raptor in history, I think, to date. “
However, Lowry was not the only one to face his last night of Raptor. Powell, who only played for Toronto in the NBA’s six seasons, could also be on the move Thursday.
He said the strangest part of the days and weeks leading up to the deadline was not to hear his name in the media band, but in conversations he had with members of the Toronto organization about how he would be for him to play elsewhere.
“Honestly, I didn’t watch SportsCenter,” Powell said. “I really don’t see a lot of things. I mean, it’s weird around me. I feel like, with some people in the organization, I’m always asked what can happen, this, that and another. But I say Some of the people in the organization, our staff medically they were emotional and something like that, and I tell them to relax and calm down.
“But it’s a business. Build connections with people. … It doesn’t bother me at all. Whatever happens, I can’t talk about emotions that aren’t here now. Wait and see like everyone else.”
Things are different, though, for Lowry, whose transformation from NBA tramp to All-Star and champion reflected the Raptors’ rise from a forgotten franchise to one that has been a steady winner in recent seasons. That, despite the fact that he and his teammates haven’t played a game in Toronto for more than a year, has established a connection that adds extra meaning to anything that happens on Thursday.
Lowry, who already said in a previous press session that he will retire as Raptor no matter what happens at the trading deadline or this summer in the free agency, will turn 36 on Thursday.
He said he hopes to play golf and will have his phone on, but will just wait to see what his agent, Mark Bartelstein, has to say when he calls him, as opposed to looking at his phone and waiting to see what he will take place.
No matter what he heard, Lowry said he would be at peace with any T-shirt he wore when Thursday’s deadline expired.
“Whatever it is will be, honestly,” he said. “This is the truth. Whatever it is, it will be. At the end of the day, everything happens for a reason. You can’t control everything and in some situations you can, but every decision that happened, I had a choice to make worked very well for me and everything will be fine.
“At the end of the day, everything will be fine no matter what happens.”
And, if he’s not in Toronto, Lowry will leave an indelible mark on a franchise he’s made in the last eight seasons.
“It simply came to our notice then. [and] I certainly don’t mind doing that, “the nurse said. My only comment I always make, which I think is the highest compliment I make, is that it plays harder than anyone I’ve ever seen.
“On the field, training or coaching or watching games or whatever, he plays harder than anyone I’ve ever seen. I can’t give him a bigger compliment than that.”