Toronto Raptors Tease New Feature In Unexpected Kyle Lowry Announcement

On July 7th, the Toronto Raptors officially announced in a press conference that they’d be retiring the No. 7 jersey of franchise legend Kyle Lowry. After signing a one-day contract to officially end his illustrious career with the team in which he made a name for himself, general manager Bobby Webster honored the great point guard by announcing him as the greatest Raptor of all time. 

Throughout his nine seasons in Toronto, the former No. 24 pick in the 2006 NBA draft averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists, 4.9 rebounds, and 1.5 steals per game on 43/38/83 shooting splits. He also achieved six consecutive All-Star appearances, an All-NBA Third-Team selection, and a championship in 2019. 

This week, Toronto made an announcement on X, sharing an action shot of Lowry along with the Raptors’ logo. 

Including the caption, “A legacy too big for one night,” the infamous Raptor is dribbling the basketball in the same pose as Lowry: one finger up in the air. While there haven’t been any specific details about what the team plans to do with this logo, it’s not the first time Toronto has honored a franchise great with a logo switch-up. Vince Carter is the reason for possibly the most famous Raptors jersey, which features the mascot doing the dunk contest legend’s iconic East Bay. 

Because of this, it’s highly anticipated that the franchise could use this new rendition of the Raptor in a jersey to honor Lowry. An obvious date to debut the potential jersey would be for the game in which Lowry’s jersey is lifted into the rafters, which is unknown at this point. Toronto has cemented itself as one of the best NBA franchises in terms of making an effort to commend its best players. It’s more than likely that DeMar DeRozan would receive similar treatment once his career is over, and at this point, Scottie Barnes may be on his way as well. 

Lowry leaving to go to Miami was sad at the time for Raptors fans, but being able to draft Barnes in the same offseason was definitely a bonus. The torch wasn’t necessarily passed to the former No. 4 pick in the 2021 NBA draft until Pascal Siakam was traded at the midseason deadline in 2024. It was then that the franchise truly looked to Barnes to be the guy for them moving forward. 

He especially capitalized on the opportunity last season. While he was the third-leading scorer behind Brandon Ingram and RJ Barrett, there is no question that he is the most valuable player on the team now, but also probably the most valuable of the franchise since his new teammate, Kawhi Leonard, was back in 2019. Should he continue to produce as he has, and potentially make a few runs at a championship, his time will come to be honored as one of the franchise greats as well.