Toronto Raptors: Where does each player rank at their position?
Kyle Lowry
A five-time NBA All-Star and now an NBA Champion, Kyle Lowry has carved out quite a career for himself. Though it did take time for him to reach the top of the mountain, that only made him that much more compelling.
When Lowry made the switch to the Raptors in 2012, expectations were fairly low on a guy that couldn’t stick with the Memphis Grizzlies or the Houston Rockets – and, as we know, was almost traded to the New York Knicks.
And then, it just clicked and Lowry was an All-Star. It didn’t happen just like that but Lowry really made an impact in his second season with the Raptors. Since then, Lowry has been one of the most underappreciated players in the NBA. Often overlooked due to his supposed lack of playoff production, mixed with the Raptors inability to go all the way – and instead, crumble in the big moments.
That all changed this past season when the Raptors finally made it to the top of the mountain. It didn’t start with sunshine and rainbows though as the Raptors lost their first game against the Orlando Magic with Lowry going scoreless.
Despite that, Lowry bounced back when the Raptors needed him the most, coming up big in title-clinching Game 6 against the Golden State Warriors in a 27 point, 10 assists, and seven-rebound performance, maybe the most complete game of his career.
It feels like Lowry is starting to get the love he deserves, and rightly so – he should be considered in the pantheon of great point guards in the NBA. In reality, only a few point guards in the NBA should be considered better than Lowry.
The likes of Steph Curry and Damian Lillard are superior to Lowry, and to a lesser extent, so are Kyrie Irving and Chris Paul, and maybe Russell Westbrook, but it stops there.
Lowry finds himself in the second-tier of point guards in the NBA, along with the likes of Mike Conley, Kemba Walker, and Ben Simmons – though the latter might make the jump any day now. At 34 years old, that’s not a bad place to be, though Lowry will want more.