Kyle Lowry’s Toronto reception illustrates his value to Sixers: ‘We needed that presence’

TORONTO — The nameplate had already been removed from the locker stall big enough to accommodate a hockey goalie’s gear. But the gray designer crew neck sweatshirt, featuring a red maple leaf, hanging inside told the videographers where they should congregate Sunday night.

As Tyrese Maxey left the room inside Scotiabank Arena, he dodged those cameras while playfully hollering, “Kyle Lowry’s not here yet!” When Lowry emerged from the showers a few minutes later, teammate Buddy Hield yelled, “Mr. Toronto!” from across the room.

Lowry has already returned here as an opponent, after leaving the Raptors in free agency in 2021. But this is the attention — and adoration from the local fans — he will forever receive in the country where he became a perennial All-Star, a champion, and, in Sixers teammate Kelly Oubre Jr.’s words, a legend.

The Sixers’ final visit to Toronto this season also provided a reminder that the traits the 38-year-old Lowry honed with the Raptors — as a quintessential point guard, as a rugged defender, and as a respected leader — are why he is now playing for his hometown team. Lowry flashed those in the Sixers’ much-needed 135-120 win over his heavily overhauled former team, totaling 11 points and 10 assists in a game played without the injured All-Star Maxey.

» READ MORE: Kelly Oubre Jr.’s season-high 32 points, Kyle Lowry’s double-double propel Sixers past Raptors

“A lot of guys who spend a lot of years in certain cities, they don’t get that reaction,” Oubre said. “It just goes to show his professionalism, his love for this city, and who he is as a person.”

Sunday was also another homecoming for Raptors coach-turned-Sixers coach Nick Nurse, a topic he politely dismissed during his pregame news conference. Yet following the boisterous cheers he and Lowry again received during the Sixers’ pregame introductions — prompting the guard to form his hands into a thumbs-up and then a heart as teammates huddled around him — Nurse called Lowry “if not the best, one of the best to ever play here.”

Then once Sunday’s game tipped off, Lowry was immediately impactful as a distributor and complementary scorer.

On the Sixers’ first possession, he lobbed a pass to Mo Bamba for an alley-oop slam. He drained two three-pointers in the opening frame. He totaled multiple assists in every quarter. He hit four of his six shot attempts, including another from beyond the arc to put the Sixers up by 15 points with less than eight minutes to play — as teammate Cameron Payne celebrated by lifting both arms into the air.

That production came after Lowry amassed 23 points, his highest scoring total in 18 games as a Sixer, during Friday’s 117-114 loss at the Cleveland Cavaliers. Nurse was encouraged by that performance, hoping it signaled that Lowry was gaining rhythm for a Sixers team still searching for consistent offense without Joel Embiid. Lowry is averaging 8.7 points on 6.6 shot attempts per game, to go along with 4.8 assists and 2.8 rebounds in 29.1 minutes.

Nurse attributes some of Lowry’s early offensive hesitation to the monthlong layoff between Jan. 21 and Feb. 22, after he was traded by the Miami Heat, and then bought out by the Charlotte Hornets, before signing with the Sixers. Lowry also acknowledged Friday that he is “still trying to figure out how to make everyone better, but also trying to figure out my assertiveness” among this group, an approach that could need tinkering when Embiid returns from knee surgery.

» READ MORE: Sixers’ Tyrese Maxey sits out the game against the Raptors with hip tightness

For now, though, Nurse said Lowry is “just too good of a shooter not to take those” in-rhythm looks. The coach also recognized the moments against the Cavaliers when Lowry “willed” the ball into the basket, on a night when Maxey went 7-of-26 from the floor.

“He started getting some confidence,” Nurse said of Lowry. “… Doing his little drive, slam on the brakes, step-back, fadeaway shot. I kind of hoped this was coming. I’m not expecting 20-plus [points] out of him every night. But once in a while, it’s certainly nice to have.”

Teammates, however, still primarily highlight the Lowry’s instant influence because of his championship experience, his ability to organize an offense, and his motivational voice.

Oubre retold a story from Lowry’s first day, when the Sixers were in a play “we’ve been running all year” and Lowry stopped it to say, “You, wait. You, hold. You, cut at this time.” Payne added that Lowry reminding teammates from the bench to focus on a defensive stop out of a timeout helps them settle down and not harp on missed shots.

And perhaps veteran forward Nico Batum said it best: “When he’s talking, we listen. Everybody just shuts up.”

Lowry’s former team, meanwhile, is now finally hitting the depths of its rebuild. After Nurse and All-Star guard Fred VanVleet moved on during the summer, the Raptors traded All-Star forward Pascal Siakam and elite three-and-D wing OG Anunoby weeks before the February deadline. Sunday was Toronto’s 13th loss in a row, with a roster populated by players with whom Lowry never shared the court three seasons ago.

» READ MORE: Marcus Morris Sr. finds new home with Cleveland Cavaliers, but has ‘no ill will’ toward hometown Sixers

So Sunday gave those home fans a familiar friend for whom to cheer. Lowry, meanwhile, was delighted to say hello to the folks around the arena he has known for years, and to revisit his favorite local spots that he keeps private but “take very good care of me.” He then faced many of the same questions from the Toronto press corps that he has answered since joining the Sixers, about his role (“I’m not the go-to guy on this team. I’m a guy that’s going to help the go-to guy get better”), and reuniting with Nurse (“He’s as fiery as ever, when he needs to be”), and how his leadership translates as a midseason acquisition (“They accept me for me, and that’s why it’s such a great fit”).

Lowry also reiterated that he will sign a one-day contract when he is ready to retire, meaning “my last day as an NBA player will be as a Toronto Raptor.” Before then, however, the adoration Lowry received during Sunday’s return illustrated why the Sixers wanted to bring Lowry to his hometown team.

“We needed that presence,” Oubre said. “Somebody who’s vocal. Somebody who knows the game in and out. Somebody with years and accolades under their belt. He checked all the boxes for a leader, for what we need in this organization right now.

“We want to continue to fight, and take his winning ways and habits and implement them into our culture.”