Raptors: Is Kyle Lowry a Hall-of-Famer?

The Toronto Raptors are in their 26th year of competition in the NBA. They have had quite a ride from winning 21 games as an expansion franchise in 1995-96 to acquiring Vince Carter at the 1998 draft to winning an NBA title in 2019, eventually stumbling across a transformational player in Kyle Lowry.

Players like the aforementioned Carter, Chris Bosh, DeMar DeRozan, and Lowry have excelled in a Raptors uniform along the way. In examining the six-foot guard Lowry’s career, the time has come to consider whether he is a Hall-of-Fame player or just one whose jersey should be retired by the team hanging from the rafters.

There are currently two NBA franchises that have yet to retire a player’s jersey, and they are the Raptors and Los Angeles Clippers. When considering the greatest Raptors ever to play the game, the term “G.O.A.T”  or “G.R.O.A.T” (greatest Raptor of all-time) gets applied to Lowry the most.

About to turn 35 years-old in March and on an expiring one-year $30 million contract, his time in a Raptors jersey may end soon. To figure out if Lowry is destined for Springfield, let us first examine his body of work.

The career of Kyle Lowry, spent mostly with the Toronto Raptors

Lowry’s NBA career began in 2006, when the Memphis Grizzlies drafted him. It wasn’t a smooth start, as he only played 10 games in his rookie season due to a broken wrist. In 2007, the Memphis Grizzlies drafted Mike Conley Jr., another point guard. It became clear very quickly the Grizzlies were not sold on Lowry as a starting point guard.

He was eventually traded to the Houston Rockets midway through the 2008-09 season, where he played for three and a half years. His arrival in Toronto began due to a trade in the 2012 off-season.

In the nearly nine years since that trade, Lowry is the all-time leader in Raptors’ history for assists, three-pointers made, and steals 851, and he is the third Raptor, behind Bosh and DeRozan to score 10,000 points.

Lowry’s stat line reads career averages of 14.8 points and 6.2 assists per game, with an effective field goal percentage of 50.7. He has played in 936 games and counting with 97 playoff games on his resume. His career stats are important when considering his Hall status.

Kyle Lowry is better than plenty of Hall players

Perhaps the greatest Raptor ever is not a superstar on the tip of anyone’s tongue like a Kobe Bryant or a LeBron James. Fans of the Raptors may even overvalue Lowry’s importance. However, even though his first four years in the NBA were non-descript, Lowry is aging like a fine wine.

A discussion with Masai Ujiri seemed to turn Lowry’s career around when the Raptors manager stated as recounted in a coursehero.com article:

"“Do you want to be a $3 million player, $2 million player for the rest of your career”, Ujiri remembers asking Lowry, “…or do you want to be a $10 million player or more?”"

Lowry became that $10 million player, and has done enough to earn a selection in Springfield. However, the  Hall of Fame will require Lowry to be retired for three years. Once that happens, there is no excuse why he shouldn’t be in the Hall of Fame.

Frank Ramsay was a seven-time NBA title winner with the Boston Celtics. He averaged 13.4 points and 1.8 assists per game during his career and only shot 39.9% from the field. Lowry is better in almost every category in comparison to Ramsay.

Vlade Divac played in one All-Star game and never won an NBA title in 16 seasons. He has 13,398 career points in an era dominated by centers. By comparison, Lowry already has 13,833 points in his career.

Lowry, for those who require the accolades to denote excellence, has been to six All-Star games. He has won an NBA title on a team where he was arguably the second-best player. In contrast, Mitch Richmond, a Hall of Famer, won one NBA title playing in just two playoff games for the Lakers in 2002 and 64 regular-season games while averaging 11.1 minutes a game. Richmond also only played in 23 playoff games compared to Lowry’s 97.

There are many other names that Lowry rates more favorably than those who find themselves already in the hall of fame.

Is Kyle Lowry worthy of induction>

The answer is an emphatic yes, Lowry is a Hall of Fame-caliber player. Whether it is stats, accolades, career longevity (15 years), or championships, Lowry has done it all. He is not finished yet, either, as he is averaging 17.6 points, 7 assists, and 6 rebounds per game this season.

Nearly 35 years old, Lowry is very productive on the court. The talk of trading him and rebuilding would be easier if his play were eroding and mediocre, but Lowry keeps impressing and leading the Raptors.

Struggling to find consistency and climb back into the playoff picture, the Raptors are eight overall in the East with a record of 10-13. Lowry will be a major piece to this team’s resurgence and effort at extending their seven-year streak of playoff appearances into eight.