Raptors’ Lowry hopes to play until he’s 40

Josh Lewenberg

TSN Raptors Reporter

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TORONTO – Kyle Lowry is the oldest player on his team but he hasn’t exactly looked the part of late, which makes sense given that he doesn’t feel it either.

The four-time All-Star has been on a tear, scoring 96 points on just 48 field goal attempts over the last four games while shooting a ridiculous 23-for-35 from three-point range and recording 37 assists to nine turnovers. His most recent masterpiece came in Friday’s needlessly tight win over the Brooklyn Nets: a 25-point, 10-rebound, 12-assist triple-double performance, the 12th of his 12-year career and 10th in six seasons with Toronto.

It wasn’t unusual to see Lowry put the team on his shoulders and almost single-handedly carry them to a victory they probably didn’t deserve. We’ve seen that many times during his Raptors tenure. What has been unusual is seeing him do it in March.

This is the time of year when we’ve come to expect Lowry – who turns 32 on Sunday – to look his age, when the wear and tear of a long season really starts to take its toll on a player that generally plays a ton of minutes and takes a ton of hits.

In March and April of 2015, Lowry missed 11 games with a sore back, among other ailments. His true shooting percentage (a measure of shooting efficiency that takes into account two-pointers, threes and free throws), when he did play, was 54.6.

In the final month and a half of 2016, he missed four contests with elbow bursitis. He had a similar 54.7 true shooting percentage. Last season, wrist surgery cost him 18 of 22 games during that same stretch.

So far this March, Lowry has only sat out once – a scheduled night of rest in the second game of a back-to-back against Dallas last week. His true shooting percentage is an impressive 70.8 – second among NBA players that have attempted at least 60 shots this month.

This is the best late-season basketball Lowry has played in his time with the Raptors, and maybe ever, which is something he credits to his reduced minutes this season, the conditioning work he’s put in and an ongoing commitment to taking care of his body.

With the playoffs three weeks away, he’s feeling good and peaking at the right time. That’s also allowed him to start looking further into the future than he once thought possible.

“I’ll be 32 [on Sunday] and I just want to keep playing at a high level as long as I possibly can,” said the Raptors point guard. “I ain’t going to lie, [LeBron James] (who just turned 33) is kinda setting the trend to show that it ain’t the olden times. You know, guys at 32 [or] 33, [it used to be] like ‘Oh, they’re done’. But I think those days are over. Even Chris Paul (32) is older.”

“We all know our bodies, our diets, we’ve got nutritionists, chefs, trainers. It’s a little bit of a different game and [with new] technology I think guys will be able to play at a higher level at 35 or 36 years old. I’m not saying an extremely high level but look at Manu [Ginobili] (40), Jason Terry (40), Vince [Carter] (41), those guys are still contributing to their teams and they’re older gentlemen.”

The idea of playing to 40 once seemed like a pipedream for a player of Lowry’s size, body type and style of play, now he says it’s a goal of his.

Lowry’s transformation – physical and mental – began in the summer of 2015. With his 30th birthday around the corner and the Raptors coming off an eye-opening first-round sweep at the hands of Washington – a series in which he averaged 12.3 points on an abysmal 32 per cent shooting – Lowry completely altered his lifestyle.

He stopped snacking, particularly late at night. He hired a personal chef and a private trainer. He took up yoga and pilates, both of which he still does to this day (his next class is at 9:00 AM on Monday, following Sunday night’s game). The basketball universe was shocked as pictures of a skinny player that only vaguely resembled the old Lowry began to circulate over social media that August.

Still, no player averaged more minutes than Lowry over the two seasons that followed (37.2) and few drew as many charges or put their body on the line as much.

Thanks in large part to Toronto’s depth, he’s logging 5.2 fewer minutes per contest this season. Additionally, his evolution into one of the league’s most lethal three-point shooters has allowed him to maintain his effectiveness offensively – perhaps becoming an even more dangerous scorer – while also limiting the nightly strain on his body.

It would appear to be a winning formula for both parties. The Raptors protect their $100 million investment and are now getting the December version of Lowry late in the season and, presumably, into the playoffs. As for Lowry, it could do wonders for his longevity in the league.

“When I was coming in the league, I was like ‘Shoot, [if] I get to 15 years I’ll be happy’, but now I’m at a point where I want to get to 20,” he said.

Lowry is under contract for another two seasons after this one and will hit free agency again when he’s 34. He knows the odds of playing 20 seasons or until he’s 40-years-old aren’t in his favour. As guys get older and family obligations creep up, other interests take over or they start to lose their fire for the game, few choose to play that long. Even fewer are physically able to, especially at Lowry’s position.

Steve Nash, Jason Kidd and Andre Miller all played until they were 40. John Stockton made it to 41. Of course, those are the extreme exceptions, but it’s worth noting that Lowry’s career arc has already been unique, though not unprecedented.

He’s a late bloomer in the mould of his good friend and mentor Chauncey Billups. Like Billups, Lowry bounced around early in his career and didn’t make his first All-Star Game until his ninth season. Like Billups, Lowry has been selected as an All-Atar in four seasons since. In fact, Billups made another three after that and ended up playing until he was 37.

The similarities are not lost on Lowry, who was introduced to Billups by their shared agent over a decade ago. They speak often and Lowry routinely picks his brain on how he was able to get better with age. His message is always the same: “Just want it”.

“Just continue to grow, always look in the mirror at yourself, never be satisfied with what you’ve done before, always look at the next thing and just be a winner,” Lowry said of the advice he’s gotten from the former Pistons star. “No matter what, win and be a professional, be a pro.”

The biggest difference between their resumes, as Lowry will remind you, is the championship ring on Billups’ finger. Lowry is still chasing his. That he finally feels like himself going into the playoffs, probably for the first time as a Raptor, could go a long way in making a run at it this spring.

Lowry’s eyes light up as he talks about the sport he loves. He refers to basketball as his “calling” in life. He makes sure to mention his family – his wife, Ayahna, and his two sons, Karter and Kameron. They’re his passion. He’s also an avid golfer. Eventually, those are the reasons he might choose to “hang up the boots”, as he says, but, at least for now, he insists that he owes the game too much to even think about slowing down any time soon.

“I know these young guys, these 21, 20, 19-year-old kids will be the stars of the league, but if I can help a team I want to continue to play at a high level and I just want to play,” he said. “I love the game. You never want the time to come where you retire, it will come one day, but if I can hold it off a little bit longer than normal time, that is awesome to me.”

“I want to play as long as I can. If I’m 40 my oldest son will be 15 and if he wants me to stop playing and watch him hoop then that’ll be the decision [I have to make]. But until then, yeah, I want to play as long as I can. I want to play until they kick me out this league.”