Kyle Lowry played 601 regular-season games for the Raptors, but due to the coronavirus pandemic, his last game in Toronto was Feb. 28, 2020. With his love for the Raptors and the city in mind, he said he is nervous about his expected emotional return to Toronto as a member of the Heat on Feb. 3, 2022. “I’m a man’s man, but I know I’m going to be a little bit sensitive and crying that day. I don’t know. I might hold it in,” Lowry said. “I’ve talked to [former Raptors teammate] DeMar [DeRozan] about it. But it’s one of them days where I know it’s going to be a lot of love for me and me giving love back, it’s just going to be interesting how it goes down because I don’t know what to expect. “It’s different when you got traded from Memphis and you go back. I still get love from Memphis, which is awesome. I still get love from Houston. This is different because I continued to grow as a person in Toronto. So eight years in the city, one year I was in Tampa, but nine years overall with one franchise is a long time.” – via Marc J. Spears @ The Undefeated
Kyle Lowry: I still text Bobby. I still text Masai. There are no hard feelings. We’ve all had an open line of communication. And for me, it was very bittersweet because I never wanted to leave. But it was more a sense of: ‘All right, my kids are getting older. I want to be somewhere where they can be stable no matter what.’ – via Marc J. Spears @ The Undefeated
Do you want to work for the Raptors after you’re done playing? Kyle Lowry: I don’t know if I want to work in this league. Everybody’s saying it will be good. I respect our league. And my goals for what I’m thinking about as a league, I’m looking bigger than just working in the league. My goal is to create enough wealth where I can be part of something. – via Marc J. Spears @ The Undefeated
