Shoutout to Kyle Lowry

I first became aware of Kyle Lowry circa 2010, back when I was playing fantasy basketball.  During that era, I wasn't watching games or highlights, and I also wasn't reading the news regularly.  I was only focused on stats, and that's when I definitively became an NBA guru.  When you're reading stats without even knowing how most players look, it's a lot easier not to form favorites and to be objective.

This was when Lowry was on the Rockets, and I'm looking at dude's stats like 'wow, I never heard of him before, but he's really good, like allstar-ish'.  The way I remember it - I don't know if this is actually accurate or not.  But the way I remember it, he was totally under the radar and underrated, sorta like Brunson was a couple of seasons ago.  So Houston didn't really try to keep him, and he ended up on the Raptors, on that team alongside DeMar DeRozan that was really, really good but could never get pass Lebron.  I predicted to myself, based on stats without even knowing how dude looked, that he was an allstar on the low, that all he needed was the right opportunity, and that prediction came true in Toronto.

WHAT'S ALL THE CONFUSION FOR?

This story that he's about to retire, I first came across it a couple of weeks ago, via Yahoo!Sports.  Concurrently, there was another headline indicating that Kyle didn't actually announce his retirement, and that it was like fake news.

Well apparently, now that NBC is reporting it also, it wasn't false after all.  And concerning all this confusion, what I'm imagining is that maybe Lowry didn't want to retire, but, you know, better to just call it quits than end up an unsigned free agent after a storied career.  And if that's true, I'm kinda wondering why Toronto couldn't just give me a vet min, 13th-man-on-the-bench kinda contract.  I'm imagining that he can still go out there and produce on a high level (offensively) for like three or four minutes a night, like he was recently doing with the Sixers.

FORGET THE GRAVY

Kyle is also, by the looks of things, like the fattest guy in the NBA.  I don't know if that's actually fat under there, but he's really stocky for a professional basketball player.  Those kind of short, heavy PGs don't usually last long, thus indicating how strong he actually is.  But I'm sure I even said in this blog a couple of years ago, when he was with the Heat, that dude needed to drop some weight.

Maybe, if Kyle were a bit thinner, he'd be of more value, even this late in the game(?).  But at the same time, damn, 20 whole years - for a PG at that?  I criticize the Lebron Era a lot, for turning superstars into divas and making the All-Star Game suck.  But apparently, one positive is dudes now starting to push for 20-year careers standard.

It would've been kinda cool to see him back in a Raptors' uniform, even if only symbolically, i.e. as a 'locker room presence', now that Kawhi has also returned.  So, let's say there's like a ghost living in the locker room.  Would he also classify as a 'locker room presence'?

Concerning that championship that Kyle won against the Warriors, I don't remember much about that postseason but do recall that Leonard was the star of the team, but still, Lowry played a pivotal (and starting) role.  In memorializing him upon his retirement, the organization pointed out that he helped bring Toronto (and Canada) its first NBA championship, which is very much true.

CONCLUSION

I guess the moral of the story, all things considered, is that if you do want to pull a Lebron out this piece, you know, playing for 20+ years, then you should watch your weight also.  It's amusing to occasionally see a nigga looking poké but at the same time, you know what I'm saying?

Either way, shoutout to Kyle Lowry.  Vinsanity was the first superstar to grace Canada, but Lowry was like the second-ish and furthermore, instrumental in bringing a ring up there.  But yeah, retire my nigga, and hey, extra gravy from here on in.  If someone made you retire, they're probably doing you a favor on the low.  You don't want to be out chasing around these new, young whippersnappers.