Saturday was a special day in Toronto.
Throughout the day, fans and NBA players gathered together to celebrate Kyle Lowry and his incredible career, first at block party at Jurassic Park, and then in the evening the organization hosted ‘A Night for 7’, a charity gala in Lowry’s honour.
Saturday’s events kicked off a full season of commemorating Lowry’s career, whose jersey is set to be raised to the rafters at Scotiabank Arena on January 10th, when his hometown Philadelphia 76ers (and somewhat fittingly, Lebron James) are in town.
All throughout the day, Lowry’s former teammates were asked countless questions about what he meant to them, what he meant to the city, what he meant to the organization, and what he meant to the game of basketball. It’s rare to see so many current and former teammates gather together under one roof, but it speaks volumes to the person that Lowry is, here’s what they had to say:
First, on Lowry’s Hall of Fame case, quotes via Josh Lewenberg:
“Every organization has a history or a kind of player that represents them and Kyle for sure, when it comes to the Raptors, when it comes to this organization, when it comes to this country, he represents all of that. He could be this organization’s Larry Bird, this organization’s Magic Johnson. The Toronto Raptors have Kyle Lowry, he deserves one of those jackets.”
“Twenty years at his height, him and Chris Paul are the only two guys who have done it, played well in the high school level, collegiate level, cause you know that all goes into play. He’s been a wonder everywhere he’s gone. I think that kind of makes the case itself right there. He’s an even better person which is crazy.”
“I feel like everyone’s going to talk about the same things you know, like the charges, how good of a leader he was, I mean every single thing. But to me I just love watching him work.”
“He’s a winner, does whatever it takes to win, great teammate, great leader, worked hard on and off the court, great person.”
“He changed the tone of that position at the point guard position, what he was able to do, not just one of those guys to go out there to score thirty, forty points, he did everything and you appreciate basketball and you look at Kyle from a basketball standpoint that’s the type of player you want on your team.
Just everywhere, every step that he went in his basketball career, he changed the dynamic of that program and that’s what it’s all about for me being a Hall of Famer. You know, and to top it off being a champion. Six-time all-star and everything else that he accomplished, man, you look at his career, you match him up with the best.”
Lowry himself spoke on what it would mean to him to get that call.
“That the work I did, was shown in another level, that it was appreciated at a super high level. I know my peers, and my friends and my teammates appreciate it, but the Naismith Hall of Fame group, it’s a different level of basketball. If it happens, it happens, if it doesn’t, it doesn’t but I didn’t play the game of basketball just to make the Hall of Fame, I played the game of basketball because I loved it. It’s a child’s game, I got everything I could possibly need in life from the game of basketball.“
Players were also asked about what makes Lowry so special, quotes via Lindsay Dunn.
“He was always there for me you know, always a great teammate, if I needed advice, I needed help with anything he was always there, even when we weren’t teammates anymore.”
“To be able to see how he came, to be able honor one of the teammates I experienced so much with, to see him getting the praises and the flowers he deserved. Me going up there, feeling like ‘I was just here’ It’s always going to be an emotional feeling for me because this is where it all started.“
“To be able to come here and support, it means everything, he’s always going to be part of my journey and you know I hope the same for him and to be here today is just to celebrate someone that did great things not only for me, but for the organization, for the country, I just wanna be someone to support him like we said to each other, ‘My beloved’ I gotta make sure I show up and represent”
“It’s been a wonderful blessing to be a teammate with that man”
“Competitive nature that you don’t see in today’s game as much. It’s old school, he’s cut from a different cloth”
“He made me feel comfortable, and you don’t meet too many people like that in the league and he’s a special guy, so anytime I can come out and celebrate Kyle, I’m here.”
”So I got to know Demar, and of course they’re like a shadow of each other, so I got to know Kyle. When I actually made it to Miami our friendship kinda took off and we’ve been very close ever since.
“I always remember that he was ready to fight on the court, he was always ready to do whatever it takes to help a team to win”
“We’ve always been great friends, we actually still have our group message intact,which is me Kyle, Demar, Lou, and Chuck”
“He wasn’t the tallest guy on the court, so he had to do other things, whether that was defense, whether that was making the right play, being a leader out there on the floor, talking, communicating”
“I think just who he was as a person, I think a lot of people can relate to that here in Toronto. Hard-working people. Winters are cold, so you know just a hard-working mentality that you gotta have to play here.”
There was absolutely no shortage of love shown for the Greatest Raptor of All Time.
