Vince Carter is going to have some company in the Scotiabank Arena rafters.
Toronto Raptors general manager Bobby Webster announced Tuesday that the Raptors will retire Kyle Lowry's No. 7 jersey at some point during the 2026-27 season, making him the second player in franchise history to receive the honor (after Carter). The exact date of Lowry's jersey retirement ceremony will be determined once Toronto's schedule is released later this summer.
The announcement came during a special event where Lowry ended his 20-year career by signing a one-day contract with the Raptors, with whom he spent nine seasons.
"I think everyone in this building, this city, this country, even myself, will remember Kyle for something a little different," Webster said Tuesday at OVO Athletic Centre, Toronto's practice facility. "Watching him play basketball stirred everybody's heart. He played a brand of basketball that very few in the NBA have matched. Every possession for him was life and death."
Lowry, one of just 12 players in NBA history to play at least 20 seasons, is Toronto's all-time leader in assists, steals, and 3-pointers. He ranks second in franchise history in points, games played, and minutes, and fourth in total rebounds. He made six straight All-Star appearances as a Raptor from 2015 through 2020, earned an All-NBA nod in 2016, won an NBA championship in 2019, and won Olympic gold with Team USA in 2016.
Such a resume has led to speculation that Lowry's next major honor might be a call to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.
"We'll let the Naismith Hall of Fame committee make that decision. I just think I'm happy with my career," Lowry told theScore.
"I've done a lot of things in my career. I've got a gold medal. I've got a championship. I've got All-Stars, All-NBA. I was able to provide for my family. I've got two great kids. They got to see a lot of (my career) and be a part of it, which is really cool."
Lowry arrived in Toronto via trade in 2012 with a reputation as a prickly personality after brief stints with the Houston Rockets and Memphis Grizzlies. What he originally thought would be a short stay until his contract expired turned into a nine-year run in which the Raptors transformed into perennial contenders while Lowry became one of the league's most respected and competitive stars.
The 40-year-old said Tuesday that his first postseason appearance as a Raptor in 2014 was when he began to feel like Toronto was home.
"That Brooklyn series showed me a lot from the fans," Lowry said. "Game 1, we ran out, and it was already packed. We ran out, it felt like the building and floor was rumbling just off the fans cheering for us. Even though (we lost the series), they still cheered us when we walked off the floor, and I think that started to turn it a little bit."
Lowry went on to re-sign with the Raptors that summer, as he would again in 2017 before departing for the Miami Heat as a free agent in 2021. Toronto made the postseason seven times during Lowry's nine-year tenure, equalling the number of playoff appearances the franchise has managed in 22 seasons without him. The partnership yielded nine playoff series victories, two conference finals appearances, and a 2019 championship. Toronto's 22 Lowry-less seasons have resulted in just one postseason series victory.
Kawhi Leonard, the 2019 Finals MVP whom the Raptors reportedly reacquired last week but whose trade has yet to be made official, was in attendance for his former teammate's announcement.
Joseph Casciaro is theScore's lead NBA reporter.
