Toronto Raptors escort Kyle Lowry repeatedly insisted Wednesday night that he doesn’t know what will happen between now and Thursday’s 3 p.m.
But that didn’t stop an air of purpose from hovering over the proceedings after a 135-111 win over the Denver Nuggets, as the best player in Raptors franchise history spoke to the media for to what will probably be his last time in the Toronto uniform.
“It was a little weird tonight not knowing what the next step would be, just understanding that there are things that could possibly be done,” Lowry said. “It was different tonight, for sure.
“I mean, who knows what will happen? No one knows what will happen. But it was definitely different.”
Although the Raptors ’win broke a streak of nine straight defeats, giving them their first win since February. On October 26, the focus after the game was almost exclusively on what will happen on Thursday, when the Raptors will not play, but will potentially swap two unconditional members of the team’s massively successful race in recent seasons. in Lowry and baseman Norman Powell.
Both players have contracts about to expire, and with Toronto plummeting in the Eastern standings and in the middle of a season in Tampa, Florida, due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, they enter Thursday as two of the best players to potentially change.
It was a big enough occasion for Canadian icon and frequent Raptors fan on the track, Drake, to talk to Lowry via FaceTime in the middle of his post-game press session, offering to translate his responses to the media, an offer which Lowry rejected.
Lowry began his press session by greeting the five Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment women: Meghan McPeak, Kia Nurse, Kate Beirness, Amy Audibert and Kayla Gray, who previously became the first all-female broadcast team on the NBA. He spoke fondly about his time in Toronto. He talked about how, after a few early years of his career with ups and downs, he found a home with the Raptors, the team that made him a star and future member of the Hall of Fame and with the which won a championship two seasons ago. .
“Well, I think if you come back, [el entonces gerente general de los Raptors] Bryan Colangelo changed me to become me – unfortunately they lost Steve Nash – and he changed me to become the base, ”Lowry said, referring to the exchange that brought him to Toronto from Houston in 2012. ” The exchange was done so that they would give me the keys. And honestly, you know, I wanted to take advantage of it.
“I think he just clicked more on the fact that, you know, they believed in me, right, the organization believed in me from top to bottom … everyone, from top to bottom, believed in me and what I could do as an individual player and as a leader, so I think that would really help, you know, a little bit, you know, click on everything, put it all together. “
The same sentimentality about Lowry’s time in Toronto also translated into his teammates and coaches, all of whom came to Toronto after Lowry did.
“We really developed together,” Raptors coach Nick Nurse said. “I always say that when he was first there, when I got here, I was new to the NBA and he wasn’t really a starting player, like legitimately starting.
“So it’s been that growth to become a six-time star, Olympic gold medalist and an NBA title that’s really amazing for Kyle Lowry, I think. The Raptors’ records, I think he’s going to become the best Raptor of all time to date “.
Lowry, however, wasn’t the only one potentially facing off on his last night as a Raptor. Powell, who has only played for Toronto in his six seasons in the NBA, could also be on the move tomorrow.
He said the strangest part of the days and weeks leading up to Thursday’s deadline was not hearing his name in the media, but in the conversations he has had with members of the Toronto organization about what it will be like for him. play elsewhere.
“I haven’t been watching SportsCenter, to be honest,” Powell said. “I don’t really see a lot of things. I mean, it’s weird around me. I feel like, with some people in the organization, they always ask me what can happen, this, that, and that. But I tell them the same thing every day. Some of the people in the organization, our medical staff were excited and stuff like that, and I tell them to relax and calm down.
“But it’s a business. You build connections with people … it doesn’t really bother me in any way. Whatever happens, I can’t talk about emotions that aren’t here right now. I’ll wait and see how everyone else does.” .
However, things are different for Lowry, the NBA’s vagabond transformation to All-Star and Champion has reflected the Raptors ’rise from a forgotten franchise to one that has been a steady winner in recent seasons. Although he and his teammates have not played a game in Toronto in more than a year, he has forged a connection that adds additional meaning to what happens Thursday.
Lowry, who has already said in a previous media session that he will retire as Raptor whatever happens on the change deadline or this summer in free agency, will turn 36 on Thursday.
He said he expects to play golf and that he will have his phone on, but that he will only wait to see what his agent, Mark Bartelstein, has to say when he says it, instead of looking at his phone waiting to see what will happen.
Whatever you end up hearing, Lowry said he will be at peace with any t-shirt he wears once Thursday’s deadline passes.
“Whatever it is, it will be, honestly,” he said. “That’s 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 has happened I’ve had a choice has worked very good for me and everything will turn out well.
“At the end of the day, everything will be fine, come what may.”
And, if he’s no longer in Toronto, Lowry will leave an indelible mark on a franchise he’s made his own over the past eight seasons.
“I gave him as much praise as I could, [y] I certainly don’t mind doing that, “Nurse said.” My only comment I always make, which I think is the biggest compliment I give him, is that he plays harder than anyone I’ve seen.
“On the court training or training against or watching games or whatever, he plays harder than anyone I’ve seen. I can’t give him a bigger compliment than this.”