As he gets set to begin a new chapter with the Miami Heat, Kyle Lowry still has high expectations for what the Toronto Raptors can accomplish even without his steady influence.
Although the team's first game without the 35-year-old didn't go as planned with a 98-83 loss to the Washington Wizards, it's those types of moments that can provide a teachable moment.
During his time with the Raptors, Lowry faced his fair share of criticism for how he performed but was willing to accept it and learn from it in order to be a better player. He's hoping the core three of Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet and OG Anunoby can grow in the same way he did both on and off the court, and deliver a championship to Toronto.
“Freddy, OG, Pascal, now they have to take the interviews, and they have to do all the media. Because I’m the guy who was like, ‘Yo, it’s on me,’” Lowry told Jonathan Abrams of The New York Times. “They have to take the criticism, and that’s what’s going to help them grow. I want them to be the All-Stars. I want them to be the champions again. I want them to get opportunities to create generational wealth.”
The decision to leave the Raptors for the Heat wasn't one Lowry arrived at lightly, as he wanted to make sure it was the right moment for him as he looked to make another push to win a title.
“We all were mutually agreed that it was time,” Lowry said of leaving Toronto. “It’s hard to put it into words. It was just time. For me, I knew with Miami it was the right situation, right timing, right place, right people, right everything.”
Lowry said he promised his teammates that he was all-in on trying to put the Raptors in the best position to compete for another championship, and even though the team fell out of contention, he wanted to see the rest of the season through. He also wanted to see his Raptors' tenure end differently from his close friend DeMar DeRozan's by having some input on what would happen and avoid a messy end.
“Sometimes franchises have to do what’s best for them, but I was in a position where I had say and I had a little bit, I wouldn’t say power — but I had a little bit of, ‘Listen, it’s not going to be a good look if we don’t collaborate on this together,’” Lowry said. “We all agreed that to be on the same page was the best thing to do, and that was that.
“With DeMar not having the autonomy of having a decision, I think it was just such a different circumstance. It prepared them to not do that to me.”
