Lowry embraces popular vote
Reserve spot via coaches poll after starting last two years sign of respect, Raptor says
It’s not unusual for NBA coaches to lobby for a player to be voted an all-star, but Dwane Casey didn’t have to do much work to sell Kyle Lowry’s inclusion.
“A lot of them had already texted me to say they were all in,” the Raptors coach said Friday, the morning after it was announced that the point guard would make his third consecutive all-star appearance, this time as a reserve in voting by the coaches.
Some bench bosses had their own agendas when Casey touched base, but Lowry’s statistics midway through the season — the best of his decade-long career — and the Raptors’ second-place standing in the East did most of the convincing.
“The coaches usually do the right thing for the right reasons. Kyle’s numbers spoke for (themselves). I didn’t have to do a lot of lobbying,” he said.
For Lowry, being voted in as a reserve — the starters, including teammate DeMar DeRozan, were selected in mixed balloting by fans, media members and coaches — was a compliment.
“Of course I would’ve loved to have the fans vote me in, but for the coaches to vote you in, it means that they respect your game and respect what you bring to the team,” he said.
Lowry has been bringing some impressive numbers.
Heading into Friday night’s 102-86 win over the Bucks, he was averaging 22.4 points and 4.8 rebounds per game, with 42 per cent shooting from the three-point range and 52 per cent for the field — all career highs for the 30-year-old, who learned he was heading back to the all-star game while getting his children ready for bed Thursday night.
While he was expected to join DeRozan, whose selection was announced a week earlier, Lowry said he didn’t give much thought to his all-star fate during a tough week for the Raptors: “I just went out there and did my job. If it happened, it happened.”
After a year that saw Lowry and DeRozan lead the Raptors to a sixgame Eastern Conference final and earn gold with the U.S. at the Rio Olympics, Casey called the all-star recognition icing on the cake for both of them.
“My hat’s off to those two, because they’re the hub and core of what we’re doing and building. I would say if we were still fighting for the bottom that they wouldn’t be in that position, so it is a big-time incentive to win for everybody.”