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TSN Raptors Reporter

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PHILADELPHIA - With his young son sitting on his lap, surrounded by teammates, coaches and family at his home in Philadelphia, Kyle Lowry learned the news.

He didn't see it coming.

"Shocking," the Raptors' point guard said, asked what it might feel like to be named an all-star starter on Thursday afternoon, hours before the official announcement was made. "It would be humbling to even be put in the category of the top 10, half-season players. It's kind of mind-boggling. I don't know what to say because I never expected it could happen in my career."

Later that evening, it became a reality. Voted in by the fans, Lowry will make his first all-star appearance in next month's NBA showcase as a starter for the Eastern Conference.

A year ago at this time, Lowry was widely recognized as the most deserving player to be left off the team, with the league's coaches awarding the final reserve slots to Nets' veteran Joe Johnson and teammate DeMar DeRozan. This season, the voting public didn't give the coaches a chance to right their wrong.

The nine-year guard gets the well-deserved nod, averaging career-highs in points (19.8), rebounds (4.9), assists (7.5) and steals (1.6), while leading the Raptors to a 27-15 record, good for third in the East.

Lowry trailed Miami's Dwyane Wade, a 10-time all-star, by over 100,000 votes at the final balloting update on Jan. 8. Since then, the online support for Lowry's bid skyrocketed, primarily north of the border. The Raptors ramped up their promotion over Twitter and on team broadcasts while Canadian celebrities and politicians publicly endorsed the campaign.

In the end, Lowry beat out Wade for the second and final starting spot in the East's backcourt by just over 15,000 votes, easily the smallest margin at any position in either conference this season. Over half of that differential can be attributed to Prime Minister Stephen Harper's pair of Twitter votes - retweeted over 8,000 times.

Lowry's late push to overtake Wade is a testament to the power of social media and the benefit of playing in Toronto, something that had been overlooked or devalued for many years as the Raptors carried a negative stigma around the NBA.

The 28-year-old chose to stick around and play in Canada, re-signing with the Raptors over the summer, and the country's basketball fans showed their appreciation this past month.

"Thank you to the wonderful Raptors fans across the NBA, especially in Canada," Lowry said in a press release Thursday night. "I am amazed by your passion for our team and the support you have given me. When I re-signed here this summer, I said one of the great things is being able to play for an entire country. This is further proof how really special that is."

Lowry has felt slighted, under-appreciated and overlooked for most his playing career, even before the Grizzlies selected him with the 24th overall pick back in 2006. Only recently has he channeled that passion into becoming the player, person and leader he is today.

"He's relentless, he's gritty," DeRozan said of his teammate and good friend. "That's one thing he brings every single day and it shows in his play every time he's out on the court. That's his personality. The same way he plays, that's how he approaches working out, film, every single thing. It all carries over."

"I mean it's definitely amazing," he continued. "I know the feeling firsthand, from last year. Just to see how hard he worked. I think every player in this league has the goal to be an all-star. That's a great accomplishment. It's just a credit to the hard work he put in last summer. He carried the team while I was out and proved his worth. It's been great to see."

A modest and soft-spoken person by nature, Lowry often defers to his teammates and the importance of winning when discussing individual accomplishments, most recently his Eastern Conference Player of the Month award for December. But even he's had a hard time hiding what this honour would mean to him if and when it came to fruition.

"I think every pro athlete, they always have doubt at some point and for me, it was a couple years ago," he said after practice on Thursday. "But at the end of the day, I work hard and I know what I can do."

"The hard work that I do in the summertime, I go extremely hard because I'm preparing for the season, for the long haul. I don't want to sit out games, I want to play every single night. These guys pay me to play basketball and do a job I love and I have no problem with doing that."

Lowry will become the fourth Raptor to start in an All-Star Game, joining Vince Carter, Antonio Davis and Chris Bosh, the third to be elected (Davis was an injury replacement in 2001).

Despite their record and standing in the East, Lowry is likely to be the team's lone representative in this year's contest, which will be played in New York on Feb. 15. DeRozan, who missed 21 games with a groin injury, understands the chances of him joining his backcourt partner are slim but he and the rest of his teammates have rallied around Lowry, knowing they've all had a hand in his success.

"Last year, I thought he was snubbed and there was an opportunity for both of us to be there," DeRozan said. "But it definitely means a lot, especially for us. I remember being here and watching [Bosh] be an all-star, then me being an all-star next. So just to start to see that recognition that we've been fighting for ever since we've been here in a Raptors uniform definitely means a lot."

"I know how Kyle is," he continued. "If he makes it, we all make it. That was the same with me last year; when I made it, we all made it. I couldn't go there without shouting out my teammates, every single guy, because if it wasn't for them, I wouldn't have made it. It's not just an individual thing. You can easily score 40 points a night but if you're losing, that doesn't make you an all-star. It takes a group effort. If one makes it, we all make it. That's how we feel."

"I give them all the credit," Lowry said of his teammates. "Because at the end of the day, they believe in me, they do things to get me the ball and make plays and finish shots. If it wasn't for them and the coaches and the organization, I wouldn't be in this position."