CALEDON, Ont. — When it comes to jersey retirements, Kyle Lowry’s was always a full-court breakaway ending in an inevitable slam dunk, metaphorically speaking.
It was the off-court version of something an earlier generation of Raptors fans got used to seeing in spectacular fashion when Vince Carter was on the floor and in full flight.
But when it comes to honouring their history and elevating their legends, the path Lowry and Carter took to having their jerseys retired has been as different as their on-court playing style.
While Carter flew through the air with the greatest of ease, getting his No. 15 retired was an underdog’s journey requiring patience, persistence, toughness and time: roughly analogous to how Lowry’s NBA on-court style enabled him to evolve from journeyman to superstar over his 20 seasons, peaking during his franchise-defining nine seasons in Toronto.
In the end, Carter’s No. 15 and Lowry’s No. 7 will hang side by side at the top of Scotiabank Arena, the first and second jerseys, respectively, that the Raptors have honoured in the franchise’s 32-year history.
Lowry’s jersey retirement ceremony is scheduled for Jan. 10, when the Raptors host LeBron James and Lowry’s hometown Philadelphia 76ers, but his number going up will only be the final act in a celebration that will have run for months by that time.
It started with his retirement announcement in Toronto on July 7, when he signed a one-day contract so he could formally end his career as a Toronto Raptor.
This weekend marks Stage 2, when Lowry swoops in for 36 hours of festivities.
Naturally — given the former point guard’s off-court passions — it all started with the KLOW Invitational, a charity golf tournament Lowry was hosting Friday at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley, with proceeds benefitting the MLSE Foundation.
Then there is Kyle’s Block Party — a free fan event — slated for Jurassic Park outside Scotiabank Arena on Saturday afternoon.
Saturday evening is A Night For Seven, a gala dinner again in support of the MLSE Foundation.
And the turnout has been impressive: former teammates Fred Van Vleet, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, CJ Miles and Danny Green, along with former Raptors head coach Nick Nurse, were teeing it up Friday.
“It’s something I didn’t expect and I appreciate it,” said Lowry. “Words can’t describe how I feel about what they’ve done.”
While the details have come together over time, that Lowry was going to retire a Raptor and eventually have his number retired was a foregone conclusion, even dating back to the middle of the 2020-21 season, when the Raptors were playing in Tampa, Fla., due to the pandemic and it appeared that Lowry would be traded to a contender mid-season.
Lowry said then that wherever and whenever he finished his playing career, his final contract would be signed in Toronto. Given that he left the Raptors as the franchise leader in assists, steals, threes made, wins and playoff wins — in addition to orchestrating the 2019 championship — it was always a matter of when, not if.
Everything in the years since has gone like clockwork, with all sides — Lowry, the organization and the fans — waiting for the right time to honour one of the franchise’s favourite sons. Lowry finally retiring this summer after 20 years in the league set everything in motion.
And while the way everything has played out so smoothly and seamlessly is a reflection of Lowry’s determination to manage his Raptors departure so carefully, in some ways it’s a reflection of how the franchise has matured and learned from the journey Carter had to take to have his jersey retired.
Carter, of course, left under entirely different circumstances than Lowry when the then young superstar was infamously traded early in the 2006-07 season.
He was deemed to have quit on the franchise when he blasted off toward stardom, but over time it became apparent that he quite rightly could have argued that the franchise had fumbled its obligations to him as a star player.
While Carter never had any ill will toward the city or Raptors fans, the fans — or a good portion of them — were hurt by a perceived betrayal, fair or not.
It took the better part of a decade for the feelings on both sides to subside and the groundwork for a restoration of the relationship to take place.
“The organization was in a far different place when Vince was here,” was how one insider put it. “Kyle benefitted from the lessons learned from that.”
Carter’s jersey retirement in November 2024 represented the ultimate full-circle moment and was reflected in the raw emotion of the evening.
But the Raptors seem to have figured this stuff out. They may even have a template for it.
“I think the organization’s just maturing as the years go by,” said Nurse, whose revamped Sixers will be the opponent when the Lowry’s jersey goes up on Jan. 10. “So you have these occasions and this success to celebrate, right? It’s still a relatively new organization in the grand scheme of things. I was in our practice facility (in Philadelphia) and we have Moses (Malone) and Dr. J up there, and now the Raptors get to start telling some of their stories too.”
While Lowry’s path to his jersey retirement was considerably different than Carter’s, there are parallels in the way the events themselves have been built out, with multiple public-facing events — in Carter’s case, the resurfacing of a basketball court that was built by his foundation back in his Raptors heyday and even a signature jet by Air Canada in honour of "Air Canada" himself.
The process has been intentional, with the franchise wanting to nurture its relationships with its iconic stars to help build culture and tradition internally, but also as a message to the rest of the NBA that the Raptors take care of their players.
“Players talk, agents talk,” said one source. “They notice things like that.”
Who the next Raptor to be honoured by the franchise will be is anyone’s guess.
It could be DeMar DeRozan, who remains the Raptors' all-time leader in scoring and games played and is entering his 18th season, now with the Denver Nuggets.
“I hope so,” said DeRozan. “This will always be home for me.”
Lowry was far more emphatic: “Oh, No. 10 (DeRozan’s number) should definitely go up there. Without a doubt.”
Or what about Pascal Siakam, now with the Indiana Pacers, who earned two All-NBA nods as a Raptor, was a starter on their championship team and may be the best development story the team has ever had?
Neither DeRozan or Siakam left the Raptors by choice and in each case there were, and may still be, hard feelings about how their time in Toronto ended. But the Carter example shows that time can heal even the deepest of wounds, and Lowry’s shows that this is an organization committed to recognizing its own.
Could Kawhi Leonard be a candidate to have his No. 2 retired?
While Leonard’s impact on the Raptors was undeniable as he led Toronto to their lone championship in his one season with the team, it was unlikely that a single season — no matter how brilliant — would qualify him for a franchise’s ultimate honour.
But if the broad-shouldered guy wearing No. 2 finishes his career as a Raptor, and the next three seasons or so include multiple playoff appearances and maybe a deep run in one of those years?
That would be a different conversation. Leonard certainly seems open to having it. With sources suggesting that one of the reasons he chose to return to Toronto is because of the possibility it could be his forever basketball home, an option not necessarily available to him after things in his previous stops — San Antonio and especially with the Los Angeles Clippers — didn’t end particularly well.
An even more interesting case is Scottie Barnes, heading into his sixth season as a two-time all-star and with second-team all-NBA honours on his resume.
It’s far too early to suggest that Barnes will join Carter, Lowry and whoever else the Raptors honour between now and whenever the 25-year-old winds up what is shaping up to be an exceptional career. But he’s already in the franchise’s top 10 in points (eighth), rebounds (eighth), assists (sixth), blocks (seventh) and should be in the top 10 in steals before Christmas.
The Raptors have made the playoffs twice in his career and certainly have eyes on going bigger and better in the coming seasons with Leonard on the roster.
He was on hand for Carter’s big night and will be in the building when Lowry, his former teammate, has his.
If and when his day comes, he can be confident that the Raptors know how to do these things the right way.
