Pulse of the NBA
(SportsNetwork.com) – Kyle Lowry scored a new four-year, $48 million dollar contract with the Toronto Raptors after his breakout season last year, but many people wondered if the leap in Lowry’s game was due in large part to his impending free agency.
Well, wonder no more, because the 28-year old point guard has been even better this season.
Lowry is averaging a career-high 20.1 points, along with 7.5 assists and 4.8 rebounds, but most importantly, he’s been the best player on the team that has the top record in the East at 16-6.
“Give the guy unbelievable credit,” said Raptors GM Masai Ujiri last Thursday. “He stepped up as a person, he stepped up as a player. Everyone said if you give this guy this contract he’s going to come back fat, he’s going to do this, do that. It’s unbelievable. Kyle Lowry is an all-star. I could care less what anyone says – Kyle Lowry is an all-star.”
A number of other teams reportedly pursued Lowry in free agency, but in the end it seemed like a pretty easy choice to stay with the Raptors.
“I think the situation was perfect for me,” Lowry said. “We had 11 guys coming back. The continuity was there. Overall, I think it was the best situation for me to win and (be) a big part of it.
“Of course, I looked at other places, but at the end of the day, I started something in Toronto and I wanted to finish it in Toronto,” added Lowry. “I wanted to be a part of it, I wanted to be a part of this organization and franchise. It comes with the continuity of the team, the ownership, management, coaches. Everything blends in together and you want to be part of an up-and-coming organization.”
To his credit, the eight-year veteran also wanted the responsibility of being the lead guy.
“In this day and age, (you) think about who you’re playing with and who you’re going to be playing against,” he said. “I made my decision on me and me being happy and me wanting to be in the situation that I wanted to be in. Of course I could have went to a few places where I would be third fiddle or fourth fiddle, but I wanted to be in a situation where the pressure was on me. When you’re a pro and you’re competitive, you want that pressure. You want that opportunity to say, ‘Listen, the ball’s in my hand, and I’ll take the good with the bad and the bad with the good.'”
The decision to remain in Toronto was also fueled by the Raptors’ fan base, which really got behind them during the team’s surprising run last season. “We sell out almost every single night,” Lowry said. “I think the fans in Toronto are some of the best fans in the world. They’re just passionate. They care about their teams winning games. Every night, the Maple Leafs sell out. We sell out. It’s just one of those cities that’s underrated.”
Lowry is turning into one of the best two-way players in the league and shows the kind of leadership, tenacity and intensity that you don’t even see from some of the other star players.
A perfect example is how he reacted to a disappointing loss to the Los Angeles Lakers in what was the first game that the Raptors played without DeMar DeRozan after losing their All-Star guard indefinitely due to a torn groin on November 28.
Lowry reached out to his GM to let him know there was no need to worry. “[Kyle] texted me after the Laker game. [He said] ‘I shot the ball too much. We weren’t in sync. We will win in Sacramento and I will play better,'” Ujiri said. “Coming from the leader of your team, that’s the voice that you want to hear. That’s the confidence you want. He’s not over-confident, but he knows how to carry himself.”
Lowry backed up his words in a big way by putting up 27 points and 13 assists in the Raptors’ 117-109 win. And the following night in Utah on back-to-back games, he scored 39 points on 13-of-22 from the floor, including 4-of-5 from downtown as the Raptors routed the Jazz.
His play was good enough to earn him Eastern Conference Player of the Week honors for the week ending Dec. 7, as he averaged an NBA-best 29.3 points along with 8.7 assists, 3.0 rebounds and 1.3 steals as Toronto went 2-1. With Lowry playing at such a high level, I don’t expect the Raptors to slide too badly during DeRozan’s absence.
Categorized in: NBA
Tags: Raptors, Toronto, Toronto Raptors