“You’re an animal, dog.” Paul Pierce told Kyle Lowry five years ago. “You’re an animal.”
The words came after Game 7 of the first round of the 2014 NBA Playoffs of the Toronto Raptors against the Brooklyn Nets, where the Raptors fell to the Nets. Lowry, along with his best friend DeMar DeRozan, recently led the Raptors to a resurgent and franchise-best record of 48–34 after a putrid 6–12 start.
The Raptors were down by one point with six seconds left. Greivis Vasquez inbounded to Kyle Lowry five feet from the three-point line, and Lowry is closely guarded by Deron Williams, and then double teamed by Williams and Kevin Garnett. But Lowry brilliantly splits both defenders and seems to get a clear shot and easy layup to take the game and the series for the Raptor…and then his shot is blocked by Pierce at the basket.
It’s essential to note how far Lowry and the Raptors had come that season. They hadn’t made the playoffs since 2008, and the team trading away Rudy Gay at the 6–12 mark of the season was supposed signaled the start of a rebuild.
But it didn’t.
Now, Kyle Lowry and the Raptors are champions. And the journey for the Raptors here was rocky, and, at times, incredibly disheartening, so it is essential, for me, to account for how Lowry became an NBA champion.
