On Friday Toronto Raptors president Masai Ujiri announced that the team had fired Dwane Casey.
During his tenure, Casey earned the respect of his players but his relationship with point guard Kyle Lowry started off rocky.
After battling with Jose Calderon for a Raptors starting gig he would eventually win, it took time for Lowry to earn the trust of his coach, and for Casey to understand how to best deal with and empower a point guard who came to Toronto with a reputation, deserved or not, for clashing with coaches.
“The two of us have learned to adapt to each other,” Lowry told me in 2016. “We’re always going to have disagreements, but there’s a mutual respect.”
In the wake of the firing, Lowry spoke to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski following the announcement and praised Casey for helping him evolve into an all-star talent:
Lowry also said that “as a leader in the organization, it’s my job” to support decisions made by the Raptors front office.
There is no word yet on who will replace Casey, and Ujiri says that the team will now embark on evaluating candidates.
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