Kyle Lowry and Masai Ujiri had a midseason sitdown to clear the air — Here’s what was said and what it’s led to
When it comes down to it, Kyle Lowry draws a line in the sand. He’s pure and loyal in all of his relationships. One of his best friends, Jimmy Butler, stars on the opposing 76ers in this Eastern Conference semifinals series currently tied at 2-2.
“That’s my guy,” Lowry says. “We’re always going to keep it 100.”
But on the court, Butler and Lowry went toe to toe on Sunday in Game 4 and Lowry’s aggressive start helped lead Toronto to a 101-96 victory inside the Wells Fargo Center. In the Raptors’ most critical game of the season, Lowry had 14 points, seven assists and six rebounds and supplied the energy, grittiness and chippy play that has defined him.
And when Lowry’s Raptors traded his close friend and fellow backcourt All-Star mate DeMar DeRozan, Lowry chose his side to support. DeRozan felt betrayed after being traded to the San Antonio Spurs, a trade that brought the Raptors one of the world’s top players in Kawhi Leonard. So Lowry exhibited those same emotions empathetically with DeRozan. That’s what real friends do.
Lowry has commented publicly and privately that he simply plays his role, that he is the Raptors point guard and that Masai Ujiri is the team’s president of basketball operations. That is the extent of his relationship with Ujiri, Lowry said earlier this season. They’ve both been through a lot — both the ups and downs of Lowry’s seven seasons in Toronto. Mostly ups, with one Conference Finals berth and three semifinals appearances to date. Their bond was strained and there hadn’t been much to discuss, at all, between the two.
Then came this February in the days leading up to the Feb. 7 trade deadline. Lowry and Ujiri had a long-awaited, and possibly overdue formal sit-down for the first time since the DeRozan deal. It was vocal and engaging, impassioned and, according to Lowry, worthwhile. They shared their feelings on what had led up to that moment, placed their thoughts in front of each other and strategized on how to move forward … together.
“It was a well-needed conversation,” Lowry told
The Athletic. “It was a very professional conversation and it had to be done. We had to get everything on the table. Listen, ‘Let’s have this conversation, let’s get everything out on the table, and move on.’ And that’s what grown men do. They have conversations, they figure it out, and you move on.
“It wasn’t a ‘fukk you, fukk you.’ It wasn’t me asking, ‘Hell, you want to trade me?’ At the end of the day, he’s going to make the decisions, right? I’m going to play no matter what it is. It was about making myself the best player that I can possibly be and getting on the same page about what he needs from me to be the best player — and vice versa. Just getting on the same page.”
For Lowry, the conversation served a practical purpose.
“It was all about the now. It was about: How do we make every day work to the best of our abilities? We said: ‘This is what I would like to see done. This is what you should do. This is how we’re going to keep going.’”
As for the now, the right now, Toronto is trying to reach new heights.
In 2016, they made the Conference Finals for the very first time in team history. This current team has its sights set on the NBA Finals. In the background, there are also the added stakes of
what the ultimate conclusion to this season will mean in their efforts to re-sign Leonard in free agency.
This series against the 76ers has the makings of going the seven-game distance, and both teams appeared tight in the fourth quarter on Sunday evening before Leonard made the biggest plays and shots. Butler (29 points, 11 rebounds) was tremendous for Philadelphia, but Joel Embiid struggled as he dealt with sickness, Tobias Harris missed 16 of his 23 shot attempts and Ben Simmons scored just 10 points.
Leonard, meanwhile, had 39 points, 14 rebounds and five assists and shot 13-of-20 from the field — with five 3-pointers.
This is why Ujiiri made the trade. This is why Lowry and his teammates have prepared by incorporating one another all season ahead of this playoff run.
but it worked out in the end. Only issue with it is Marc gets all these great looks and has to knock them down. He did have a few big ones but 2/7 with that much room to shoot is bad.
