{"id":535242,"date":"2026-01-14T03:32:20","date_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:32:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/535242\/"},"modified":"2026-01-14T03:32:20","modified_gmt":"2026-01-14T03:32:20","slug":"lowry-savours-what-is-likely-his-final-on-court-appearance-in-toronto","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/535242\/","title":{"rendered":"Lowry savours what is likely his final on-court appearance in Toronto"},"content":{"rendered":"

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry (7) looks on after his team picked up a lopsided win against his former team, the Toronto Raptors, in Toronto on Monday.Frank Gunn\/The Canadian Press<\/p>\n

Kyle Lowry really wasn\u2019t sure he was going to get to play in Toronto one last time. He knew it would take a sizable 76ers lead for head coach Nick Nurse to call him up from the far end of Philadelphia\u2019s bench.<\/p>\n

Fortunately, Lowry\u2019s teammates knew it too.<\/p>\n

After nearly six minutes of \u201cWe want Lowry!\u201d chants and the Sixers holding a 16-point lead, the 20-year NBA veteran was subbed in for the final two minutes of Philadelphia\u2019s 115-102 victory<\/a> over the Raptors on Monday.<\/p>\n

Although Lowry went 0-for-3 in his limited play time, he didn\u2019t really care.<\/p>\n

\u201cOur team came out with an extreme focus, and I think that was part of their plan, to make sure I got an opportunity to get in there,\u201d said Lowry, who led the Raptors to the 2019 NBA championship with Nurse as Toronto\u2019s head coach. \u201cI\u2019ve got some great teammates and a great coach who understands the moment, who I have a championship with, but it was a good team win for us.<\/p>\n

\u201cI got an opportunity to experience probably one of the greatest basketball moments of my personal career.\u201d<\/p>\n

With the 76ers in Toronto for a back-to-back, Nurse had said he would do his best to get Lowry into one of the games. <\/p>\n

Nurse didn\u2019t get that opportunity in Sunday\u2019s 116-115 overtime loss, so on Monday the 18,127 fans at Scotiabank Arena made it very clear they wanted to see Lowry \u2013 arguably one of the greatest Raptors ever \u2013 back on the court one final time before he likely retires at the end of this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cThey are the greatest fans in the world to me,\u201d said Lowry at a post-game news conference. \u201cThey\u2019ve been supportive of me and my career. A lot of the things I\u2019ve accomplished in my career was in front of these fans. <\/p>\n

Open this photo in gallery:<\/a><\/p>\n

Kyle Lowry enters into the dying moments of Monday’s game against the Toronto Raptors at Scotiabank Arena. It marked what could be the final time the point guard from the 2019 championship team will play in Toronto.Cole Burston\/Getty Images<\/p>\n

\u201cThat\u2019s why this place is so special to me.\u201d<\/p>\n

Nurse heard the \u201cWe want Lowry!\u201d chants clear as a bell.<\/p>\n

\u201cI thought they didn\u2019t think I was really going to do it, but I was planning on it there and got a good moment to do it,\u201d said Nurse, who pulled star guard Tyrese Maxey for Lowry. \u201cIt was nice to be able to bring him in on his own there.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowry was selected 24th overall by the Memphis Grizzlies in the 2006 NBA Draft, playing there for three seasons before being traded to the Houston Rockets in February 2009. After four seasons in Houston, he was sent to the Toronto Raptors during the 2012 off-season.<\/p>\n

It was the best fit of his career and Lowry spent nine seasons in Toronto, helping the Raptors win their only NBA championship.<\/p>\n

Lowry was sent to the Miami Heat in 2021, helping that team reach the 2023 NBA Finals. In 2024, he was traded to the Charlotte Hornets \u2013 although he never played for them \u2013 before joining his hometown Sixers via a contract buyout.<\/p>\n

Nurse said on Sunday that the veteran has been great as a mentor on and off the court for the 76ers this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019ve got a bunch of young guards, who, obviously, he\u2019s been able to help,\u201d said Nurse. \u201cHe really wanted to make it to his 20th season. I think that\u2019s quite a milestone.\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowry is averaging 1.2 points, 1.4 assists and 0.6 rebounds per game this season, well below his career averages of 13.9 points, six assists and 4.2 rebounds per game. Nurse said the six-time all-star brings a lot more to the court than just statistics, however, calling him one of the three hardest-working players he\u2019s ever coached.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s good to have somebody that\u2019s won a lot that knows what\u2019s good for the team, what isn\u2019t,\u201d said Nurse. \u201cThere\u2019s times when I\u2019ll be leaning on them and he\u2019ll be behind me and say, \u2018Hey, you know, he needs to lean on us right now. This is what it takes.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n

Lowry, who was laughing and joking with Toronto media throughout his pre-game availability, said he was enjoying his new role.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s been stress free. It\u2019s been fun. The thing about being in this type of role is it\u2019s a challenge,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cYou\u2019ve got to find ways to challenge yourselves.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe challenge for me is to help these guys every single day, be into the game plan, understanding the game plan, understanding what we want to do as a team.\u201d<\/p>\n

As much as Lowry is enjoying what is potentially his final NBA season, he confirmed there is one more team he\u2019d like to sign with before officially retiring.<\/p>\n

\u201cMy goal and I\u2019ve committed to this and I never go from what I say, I will sign a one-day contract and retire as a Raptor,\u201d said Lowry. \u201cThat has not changed.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Open this photo in gallery: Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry (7) looks on after his team picked up…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":535243,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[3770],"tags":[10388,10376,7,10389,4500,9436,10390,4821,10371,10382,10383,10378,10372,10370,7678,6682,10387,10381,10375,10401,10373,10374,10380,10377,1943,2679,10391,9876,6,10396,10397,10399,10394,10398,10392,10395,6870,10385,10386,3559,10384,10393,681,83,1963,680,476,3820,9087,10379,4486,447,10400],"class_list":["post-535242","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-toronto-raptors","tag-alberta","tag-arts-news","tag-basketball","tag-bc","tag-breaking-news","tag-breaking-news-video","tag-british-columbia","tag-canada","tag-canada-news","tag-canada-sports","tag-canada-sports-news","tag-canada-trafficcanada-weather","tag-canadian-breaking-news","tag-canadian-news","tag-economy","tag-education","tag-environment","tag-federal-government","tag-foreign-news","tag-globe-and-mail","tag-globe-and-mail-breaking-news","tag-globe-and-mail-canada-news","tag-government","tag-life-news","tag-lifestyle","tag-local-news","tag-manitoba","tag-national-news","tag-nba","tag-new-brunswick","tag-newfoundland-and-labrador","tag-northwest-territories","tag-nova-scotia","tag-nunavut","tag-ontario","tag-pei","tag-photos","tag-political-news","tag-political-opinion","tag-politics","tag-politics-news","tag-quebec","tag-raptors","tag-sports-news","tag-technology","tag-toronto","tag-toronto-raptors","tag-torontoraptors","tag-travel","tag-trudeau","tag-us-news","tag-world-news","tag-yukon"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"","error":"Validation failed: Text character limit of 500 exceeded"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535242","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=535242"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/535242\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/535243"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=535242"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=535242"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.rawchili.com\/nba\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=535242"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}