Rest Kyle Lowry a tempting prospect for Raptors before rebooting

The Toronto Raptors are Kyle Lowry’s team, and we could get the best basketball of the all-star point guard career when the 2019-20 season finally resumes.

The first is a foregone conclusion, a fact that permeates everything the reigning NBA champions have done so far this season and could as they prepare to defend their title in the midst of a pandemic.

The latter is fun to think of and an unintended consequence of the season is paused for more than four months.

But the premise is indisputable.

Lowry has become an all-star who shares the best bills with DeMar DeRozan for six seasons and has become a champion working with Kawhi Leonard and the surrounding area for one season.

But now the 34-year-old is the face, voice and conscience of a team that deeply believes he can repeat, and his influence is everywhere.

Perhaps more significantly when the Raptors go into their routines for what could be a long stay in the NBA “bubble” at the Walt Disney World Resort near Orlando, complaints will be minimal.

Lowry isn’t shy about expressing his displeasure, so it’s not absolutely important.

Among the ways the 14-year-old NBA veteran spent his time at home in Villanova [a Philadelphia suburb] in addition to helping his boys work in school and getting involved in the occasional game of golf, he was part of the return to game committee which brought together a small group of players, league leaders, team leaders and union officials to help give a vision what it could involve playing in the middle of a global health crisis.

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Since arriving on July 9, Lowry has liked the image that played a role in the creation.

“I’m a huge fan of how everything went well and to see the work done by the league and the time they put it,” Lowry said in a Disney World conference call, his first interview from the NBA season is was stopped on March 11th.

“… [The] the protocols are incredible. I think [the NBA’s] the protocols and our health and safety measures have been top notch, I think this thing will work perfectly, I think the league, the players’ association has done a great job – a phenomenal job – to make sure we are doing everything what we can possibly do to make sure that we are healthy, that we are safe and that we are in an environment where we can succeed and carry out our work at a high level.

It is no small matter, Lowry’s involvement and his stamp of approval. The Raptors’ goal is to repeat as champions who will require them to stay on the bubble until the second week of October and spend nearly nine weeks apart from their families – a significant sacrifice for Lowry, a gripping dad for his young boys.

If Lowry were not all in, the Raptors’ chances would be life support before the ball went up. But Lowry is all in and his team is following suit.

“There are many facets to doing this,” said Raptors head coach Nick Nurse after his club’s third round in Florida. “We want to perform at our best and in this situation [the pandemic] has put a kind of other strand of things you need to do if you want to get where you want to go.

“He was almost put in front of everything else, the conditioning, the game and the chemistry and the strength and riding the ups and downs, whatever, all that stuff that’s kind of normal basketball.

“[But] now you have a little bit of self-care and doing what you should do … that if you don’t, you won’t start on that path.

“[Lowry] it was a big part with the players association to get us here and obviously again, he is a leader and was part of it.

“And having him as the guy who is setting the example – he will say to these guys, ‘take this stuff seriously, take these protocols seriously, let’s be smart and do it’ and I think it definitely resonates with the rest of the team. “

It will be fascinating to see how the whole experience resonates with Lowry and continues in his game.

As the Raptors evolve into playoff constants under Lowry’s control – this will mark their seventh consecutive appearance after the season – figure out how to make sure that a player who races as hard as he does in the post-season with a lot of gas in his tank have been an ongoing experiment.

This time it’s not a problem. Lowry looks slim and fit and came out of the block in optimal condition.

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What a completely fresh, healthy and fit Lowry will be capable of once the ball gets up is a tempting prospect and would seem to bode well for his 46-18 club which is second in the East and third in the NBA in general but remains overlooked as a contender due to a perceived lack of superstar power.

Lowry will be asked to fill in that gap and Nurse is confident that he is up to the task.

“I think he’s playing at a level, this year higher than ever. He played fantastic, ”said Nurse. “… Last year he had incredible playoffs, okay, so there is a trusted component that is a bit there. I think every year he learned a little about his body, his conditioning and the extent of the goal.

“I think he’s just smarter that way and, and I think he has enormous trust. And I also think he knows it has to be some kind of main gear, right? It must be offensive to us.

“You know he will always play hard and play defensive games, but he must be a major factor in the offense and he behaves like this I think this year much more.

… [I think] he will be a hellish player in the playoffs. “

Lowry returns to work with a clear mind.

He was active with Black Lives Matter’s protest in the wake of the police murder of George Floyd in Minneapolis, something that rang out profoundly.

“It wasn’t just George Floyd’s protests,” he said. “It was the protest of social injustices. It was protests for black people in general. We are at a time when we must continue that conversation. We must be heard. We must speak loud and clear. We have to understand that we have to do things to change the situation, change the laws. We need to provide opportunities for things to be better. It wasn’t just a person … this time we had to talk and we had to do something.

“For me to be part of it, that’s who I am. Here’s how they are. That’s how I grew up. I grew up a black man in America. Growing up like that is definitely a difficult thing, because you never know what could happen to you. You never know if you’ll make it. For me, being able to talk to you guys is a blessing. So to be able to do it, it is my right, my duty and my honor to represent black culture. “

But for the brunt of social unrest following the murder of the Floyds and all the tragedies and challenges of the pandemic, for those fortunate enough to avoid the worst of them, the interruption from routine and a break in life that often seems to be flying from a frenetic pace can be regenerating. Lowry’s quarantine experience was no different.

“Being able to stay at home with my family and enjoy my family’s time was fantastic. I have seen my children. I have to put my kids to bed almost every single night. I haven’t done it all my life, “he said.” Being at home and being around them and watching them grow and help them with their homework and sit there with them on Zooms, be able to be there and interact with them. all the time, it helped me grow even more like a father, like a man. It made me appreciate my wife and family a lot more because my children are a handful. But they are fantastic. My time at home was fantastic. “

And now it’s time to get back to work and Lowry – and his team – couldn’t be more ready for what’s to come.