Toronto Raptors: The Kyle Lowry Story (The Disruptor)

Lowry went from very good point guard to future Hall of Famer in the span of a year

His numbers may have dipped during the season but there was never a season that he played such a crucial part to the team’s system. New coach, Nick Nurse,maximized his playmaking and made him shoot less, but it worked to perfection.

Another great regular season was actually followed by a great playoff run this time around for Lowry and the Raptors.

The very defining Kyle Lowry moment of that whole season was Lowry scoring the first 11 points in Game 6 against the Warriors. He ended the game with a 26/7/10 scoreline, alongside three steals. That was the game Lowry took full control of the game and had that face saying “I’m not (explicit word) losing this.”

That will be the game fans will remember Kyle Lowry for. Not his time in the Memphis Grizzlies where he was labeled as a troublemaker. Not the time he got benched in place of Goran Dragic with the Rockets, or when Paul Pierce blocked a potential game-winner.

Lowry will be remembered for his performance in the finals, being the perfect floor general, taking charges against anyone (even Embiid), his pull up threes with 20 seconds up on the shot clock, and most especially the heart and grit he gives every time he steps on the court for the Toronto Raptors.

Sometimes one little thing is what can cement a player’s legacy, and in this case, it was the Kahwi trade. From repeatedly getting bounced early in the playoffs to winning the whole thing.

Surely a future Hall of Famer and hopefully the first Raptor to have his number retired when it is all said and done. And though no one will remember him as “The Disruptor,” Stephen A. Smith’s assessment was pretty spot-on looking back at it 14 years later.