Kyle Lowry’s storied career is set to come to an end on Tuesday when he is expected to sign a one-day contract to retire a member of the Toronto Raptors.
Nine seasons of leading the ‘We the North’ movement, six All-Star selections, and of course, lifting the Larry O’Brien Trophy in 2019 have earned Lowry the ‘Greatest Raptor of All Time’ label, and the team is set to recognize those efforts by raising his No. 7 to the rafters this upcoming season.
With his playing days coming to an end, here is a look back at his time in Toronto and how he became one of the most iconic players in franchise history.
Lowry Arrives in Toronto
Stuck in the middle of a crowded back court and coming off a public rift with Houston Rockets head coach Kevin McHale, it became increasingly clear that Lowry was in need of a fresh start.
Following three and a half seasons in the Space City, Lowry was officially acquired but the Toronto Raptors on July 12, 2012 in exchange for Gary Forbes and a 2013 first-round pick.
An early-season injury saw the Villanova product lose the starting job to fan-favourite guard Jose Calderon, but Lowry would show promise in his age-25 season and would be inserted back into the starting lineup for good after Calderon was dealt to the Memphis Grizzlies in January 2013.
Coming back to Toronto in the trade was a 26-year-old Rudy Gay, who Lowry had become good friends with during their time together in Memphis.
Lowry averaged 11.6 points and 6.4 assists per game in his first season with Toronto, but the Raptors finished with a 34-48 record and missed the playoffs for the fifth consecutive year, leading to the team firing Bryan Colangelo, the general manger who had brought Lowry to Toronto, and hiring Masai Ujiri.
The Ujiri Era Begins
Ujiri’s first year in Toronto did not get off to the start the team had hoped for as the Raptors opened the year at 6-12 and appeared destined for another lost season.
Ujiri shook things up in December, trading Gay to the Sacramento Kings. More moves were rumoured to be on the horizon, with both Lowry and DeMar DeRozan being linked to various teams around the Association to kickstart a potential rebuild north of the border.
Lowry was rumoured to be heading to the New York Knicks to feature as Carmelo Anthony’s running mate in a deal that was close to being finalized, but Knicks owner James Dolan was unwilling to part with a first-round pick in the deal and trade talks were subsequently ended.
The Raptors would take off following the failed swap, and finished the season at 48-34 to win the Atlantic Division, with both Lowry and DeRozan running with their opportunity as the team’s leaders – both on and off the court.
Toronto would take the Paul Pierce and Kevin Garnett-led Brooklyn Nets to seven games in their first-round series that year but would eventually be eliminated after Lowry’s game-winning attempt was blocked at the rim to end the Raptors’ season.
While this would result as the first of many playoff heartbreaks suffered by this Raptors’ core, it was certainly a step in the right direction, with Lowry solidifying himself as the team’s point guard of the future after he inked a four-year, $48 million extension heading into next season.
First All-Star Appearance
The good times rolled along in Toronto during the 2014-15 season.
Lowry and DeRozan had entrenched themselves as one of the premier backcourts in the league under head coach Dwayne Casey, with the pair lifting the Raptors into the conversation as contenders in the Eastern Conference.
Lowry earned the first All-Star selection of his career that season, following in the footsteps of DeRozan the year before, averaging 17.8 points, 6.8 assists, 4.7 rebounds, and 1.6 steals per game.
The Philadelphia native became Toronto’s all-time franchise leader in triple-doubles, set a new career-high scoring mark, and was named as the Eastern Conference’s Player of the Month in December, becoming just the second Raptor in history to earn the honour after Chris Bosh did so in January 2007.
With the Raptors finishing the season atop the Atlantic Division at 49-33, the team was heading into the playoffs as a force to be reckoned until things came crashing down in their first-round series against the Washington Wizards.
Toronto was unceremoniously swept out of the playoffs by the Wizards, with Lowry’s poor play in the postseason at the forefront of the discourse at year’s end.
He averaged just 12.3 points in four games that series and struggled to keep up with Washington’s emerging star John Wall, calling Lowry’s conditioning into question amid the team’s second consecutive first-round exit.
LeBronto
The following fall, Lowry showed up to training camp looking noticeably slimmer following an off-season of working to get in shape.
Back-to-back playoff heartbreaks had served as motivation for Lowry, who would go onto record a then career-best 21.2 points per game in the 2015-26 campaign.
After a stellar first half highlighted by a franchise-record 11-game win streak and co-Player of the Month honours for Lowry and DeRozan in January, the pair would be selected to the All-Star Game hosted in Toronto that season.
The Raptors would eclipse the 50-win mark for the first time in team history that season, but all eyes were on the postseason after last year’s poor showing.
Toronto drew the upstart Indiana Pacers in the first round that year, and were taken to seven games by the Paul George and company before emerging victorious for the team’s first playoff series victory in 15 years.
The Raptors needed another Game 7 victory to beat the Miami Heat in the second round, setting up their first playoff meeting with LeBron James and the Cleveland Cavaliers in the Conference Finals.
Lowry and the Raptors battled valiantly but ultimately fell in six games to the Cavs. Lowry averaged 20.2 points, 4.5 rebounds, and 4.2 assists in the series, shedding the notion that he was unable to perform in the playoffs.
He would earn an All-NBA third-team selection following the 2015-26 season, also finishing 10th in MVP voting that year.
Unfortunately for Toronto, that season began a trend of playoff domination by the James and the Cavaliers.
Despite strong regular-season performances over the following two years, the Raptors were swept out of the second round by Cleveland in both 2017 and 2018, casting doubts on whether or not Lowry, DeRozan, and Casey were capable of helping the team achieve their goal of winning an NBA championship.
DeMar Drama
Among the doubters was Ujiri, who proceeded to fire Casey coming off Coach of the Year honours and trading DeRozan to the San Antonio Spurs that off-season, much to the chagrin of Lowry.
In an interview with ESPN’s Rachel Nichols, Lowry said he “felt betrayed because [DeRozan] felt betrayed.”
When asked in that same interview about his relationship with Ujiri, he said, “He’s the president of basketball operations, and that’s it,” he added. “For me, I come out here and do my job.”
Coming back to Toronto in the DeRozan deal was Kawhi Leonard, who had played just nine games the year prior and was on an expiring contract, alongside premier wing defender Danny Green.
With a public feud brewing with Ujiri and uncertainty surrounding Leonard’s upcoming free agency, things appeared to be coming to a head in Toronto.
The Kawhi Year
The 2018-19 season began shrouded in the shadow of DeRozan’s departure, but it became increasingly clear that the team had a real shot to get through the East.
With first-year head coach Nick Nurse at the helm and a fresh-look starting five, the Raptors went 12-1 to open the season.
Leonard appeared to be as advertised, Pascal Siakam took his game to new heights, and Lowry had taken on the role of floor general under Nurse.
Despite his lowest points per game total (14.2) since arriving in Toronto, Lowry recorded a career-high 8.7 assists per game, and was at the forefront of a Raptors defence that posted a top-five rating in the league at 108.00.
He earned yet another All-Star nod that year, his fifth in a row, and the Raptors breezed through the regular season with a 58-24 record, good for the second seed in the East.
But it was the playoffs that both Lowry and the Raptors would be judged on. First up was a series against the Orlando Magic.
Lowry Immortalized
It appeared the ghosts of past playoff failures were set on haunting Lowry and the Raptors in Game 1 of the Orlando series, a 104-101 loss that saw him go scoreless on seven shot attempts in 34 minutes of action.
The Raptors would quickly get back on track and finished off a gentleman’s sweep of the Magic, with Lowry’s play getting back to the level it was in the regular season.
After winning a seven-game battle against the Philadelphia 76ers in the second round and coming back from an 0-2 series deficit against the reigning MVP Giannis Antetokounmpo and the Milwaukee Bucks, the Raptors were finally headed to the NBA Finals for the first time in team history.
During the celebrations following their Eastern Conference Finals, the fans at Scotiabank Arena serenaded their franchise point guard with chants and cheers as he lifted the Bob Cousy Trophy as East champions.
Once the confetti had been cleared off the court and the celebrations had ended, the attention turned to the Golden State Warriors, who were been seeking their third consecutive NBA championship.
The Raptors jumped out to a 3-1 series lead after taking both games in Oakland, and returned home for Game 5 with one hand on the Larry O’Brien Trophy.
A tight back-and-forth battle ensued, with the Warriors leading 106-105 ahead of the game’s last possession. With under two seconds remaining in regulation, the ball found Lowry in the corner with a chance to wash away the years of failed playoff runs and send the Raptors to their first NBA championship.
His shot would be tipped by Draymond Green and would hit the side of the backboard, bringing the Warriors back in the series with Game 6 set for the Bay Area.
“He got a piece of it, that’s what great defenders do,” Lowry said after the loss. “He got a piece of it and we’ll continue to look at it and see how we can be better for the next game.”
Fresh off the Game 5 disappointment, he didn’t miss a beat.
After opening Game 6 with a personal 11-2 run, Lowry recorded 26 points, 10 assists, and three steals to lead Toronto to a 114-110 victory, closing out Golden State in the Finals, seeminly redeeming himself after years of falling short when the lights were brightest.
Traded from Toronto
Leonard departed for the Los Angeles Clippers that off-season, breaking up the team that had just won their first NBA championship.
Lowry remained in Toronto, however, as did Siakam and a number of players who played pivotal roles in their triumph from the year before, to lead the Raptors to a 46-18 record before the season was suspended due to the COVID-19 pandemic in March 2020.
The season would resume in the bubble with Toronto set on making another run to the Finals, before things were derailed in a Game 7 loss to the Boston Celtics in the second round.
The 2020-21 season would also be affected by the pandemic as the Raptors were forced to play their home games from Tampa.
Things never felt quite right in their temporary home, and Toronto missed the playoffs for the first time in seven years with a 27-45 record.
That summer, Lowry was dealt to the Heat in a sign-and-trade as the Raptors looked towards a retool for the following year.
One Last Time
Following his time with the Heat, Lowry signed with his hometown 76ers to reunite with head coach Nick Nurse.
He served as more of a locker-room presence than the star player he was in Toronto, getting into just 72 games in three seasons with Philadelphia.
On Jan. 12, 2026, Lowry returned to Toronto for the last time in his playing career, checking into the game with 1:57 left in the fourth quarter.
The fans in attendance offered a raucous standing ovation to their former point guard, with Lowry saluting the crowd and taking the game ball with him off the court.
After the game, he called the experience “probably one of the greatest basketball moments” of his career.
No. 7 Retired
The sun has set on Lowry’s 20-year career, and the Raptors will now honour ‘the Greatest Raptor of All Time’ with a jersey retirement this upcoming season.
The franchise leader in assists, steals, three-pointers, and triple-doubles will occupy a spot next to Vince Carter in the rafters at Scotiabank Arena, alongside the 2018-19 NBA championship banner he brought to the city.
