Raptors remain mum on Lowry’s return
No urgency to rush back with Toronto continuing to play well in his absence
It’s not a stretch to suggest that, given the green light by his employers, Kyle Lowry would happily never address the media again.
The biggest smiles from Lowry throughout his absence from the lineup have come when overzealous members of the media approached him only to be told he was not active and therefore not mandated to speak with anyone waving a microphone or a recorder.
So just the fact he somewhat reluctantly agreed to be trotted out in front of those same microphones and recorders Monday at practice at least suggests his return is somewhat close at hand.
Lowry has not played for the Toronto Raptors since Feb. 15, the final day before the league broke for the all-star break. He had surgery Feb. 28 in New York. At the time of the surgery, Lowry was told it would be a 4-6 week period of recovery.
But neither he nor head coach Dwane Casey had any intention of letting anyone in the media, or by extension the Raptors fan base, know exactly what the plan is for his return.
Lowry said the call, when it is made, will be made by him.
“It will be me, Kyle Lowry, who is going to clear me,” Lowry said.
Lowry admits not playing has left him bored, although he says he’s enjoying all the winning the team is doing without him.
“I’m really enjoying how well we’re playing,” he said.
“It’s fun being out there and seeing how guys are going out there and getting it done. Wanting to be a part of it, it’s something I want to be a part of. It’s boring because I want to play, but it’s awesome because I see those guys going out there and being professionals and getting wins.”
In the 20 games the Raptors have played without Lowry, they have gone an impressive 14-6.
The team has five games remaining before an expected playoff opener a week from Saturday. In between games, they have as many as three practice days before the season ends April 12 and another two practice days (three if the Raps don’t begin the playoffs until Sunday) beyond that.
So time appears to be on the Raptors’ side if they want to ease Lowry back in. But even Lowry will tell you nothing duplicates game experience.
“Nothing’s like basketball,” Lowry said when asked about getting back into game shape.
“No conditioning you can do is like basketball. That’s going to only take a little bit of time. Right now, I’m going to make sure I’m fully healthy and completely ready to go help the team no matter what.”
Casey made it very clear that updating the media (and by extension, the paying public) is not something he will spend his time doing.
“I’m not going to go into a daily ‘When is Kyle coming back?’ (interrogation),” Casey said.
“This is about the Toronto Raptors, us getting ready for the next game and if you have questions about that, then that’s fine. But all the other questions — I’m not going to get into specifics about when is Kyle coming back, when he’s not coming back, what did he do today, did he use the bathroom this morning, did he have breakfast this morning. No, I’m not getting into all that.”
When it was pointed out that perhaps Lowry’s much anticipated return is worthy of frequent updates, Casey disagreed.
“(Tuesday) night what is relevant for me are the Indiana Pacers,” Casey said.
“I totally, respectfully disagree. To (media types) it is relevant. To us it’s relevant when he does come back. But I’m not waking up every day wondering if this is the day Kyle comes back and I don’t think his teammates are, either. I think they are looking forward to the next challenge. I don’t want to put that kind of pressure on Kyle or the team or whatever. I think the pressure should be on us getting ready for the Indiana Pacers.”
Lowry will not be rushed. He made that very clear in the eight minutes he spoke with the media.
He feels no urgency to get back in the lineup to forge some chemistry with the new Raptors — Serge Ibaka and P.J. Tucker — because he feels that will take care of itself.
“You could step on the court and play with Ibaka and Tucker?” Lowry is asked.
“Yeah. They joined the team when I was here. They can figure it out. We can figure it out,” he answered.
When asked if that figuring out would take time, Lowry shook his head from side to side.
“It ain’t going to take no time to figure it out,” he said. “At the end of the day, I’m coming back, and they will adjust. They will adjust.”
As he left the scrum, Lowry sent a reminder to the assembled media that he would still not be active on Tuesday in Indianapolis.
In other words, nobody need waste any breath talking to him. He wouldn’t be responding.
With his back to the media, it was hard to tell if he was smiling when he said that, but a betting man would wager he was.