An all-star to call their own
Lowry to start for East on Raptors’ home court
TORONTO — Just call Kyle Lowry the king of the comebacks.
A year after a stunning, 11th-hour surge earned him a starting nod at the NBA All-Star Game in New York City, Lowry did it again, surpassing Cleveland point guard Kyrie Irving for another starting gig — but this time on his home court.
Lowry joined Vince Carter and Chris Bosh as the only multiple starters in Toronto Raptors franchise history. It was well-deserved. Lowry is averaging career bests nearly across the board (20.9 points, 2.3 steals, 5.0 rebounds), while still putting up 6.5 assists a game. He ranks near the top of the leaderboard in three-pointers made and steals, fifth in value over replacement player and seventh in win shares.
“Thank you fans! Two years in a row, I never could of imagined this in my wildest dreams!!! I love y’all!!” Lowry tweeted seconds after the results were released.
Lowry’s selection also all but assured teammate DeMar DeRozan would be named to the Eastern Conference team next week when reserves are announced since Irving, who has been injured most of the season, has no chance of being on that list.
Earlier Thursday, Lowry had said he didn’t really care whether he got voted in or picked by the coaches, only that he is in Toronto with his fellow stars next month.
“It would be great (to start), that’s my goal, but at the end of the day, if I’m still called next week, it would be as exciting,” Lowry said Thursday after practice.
Lowry had trailed Irving by more than 32,000 votes last week, but ended up topping him by nearly 66,000, which was not as much as last year’s stunning jump. In 2015, Lowry had trailed Miami Heat superstar Dwyane Wade by more than 300,000 votes before passing him.
This time, Wade got voted in as the other East guard. He was joined by former teammate LeBron James, Lowry, Indiana’s Paul George, who has made a remarkable comeback from a devastating injury, and New York’s Carmelo Anthony.
Lowry had not been losing any sleep in the lead-up to Thursday night’s announcement.
“I wasn’t nervous last year. At the end of the day, I have no control over that. The fans have the right to vote whoever they want to see and that’s why it’s called fan voting,” he said.
Listening to Lowry, it was clear that it was just as important to him that his running mate and fellow Raptors linchpin DeRozan suits up for the Eastern Conference as well on Feb. 14.
“Oh man, words can’t describe that. It’s just one of those things where hopefully you both get in there and we share these moments together,” Lowry said.
“For him being in a situation where his team wasn’t so good seven years ago to a team where we are in second place in the East right now … I know it means so much to him.
“We’ve talked a lot about (being known as one of the league’s best combinations). I think it’s just people are starting to respect that we’re actually really great together. We’ve worked on it for four years now. Now it’s been 3½ years, we both want to win, we want the best for our team and organization. I think if you start from there, your two top guys want that, it goes a long way.”
While at least one major national pundit — NBA.com’s David Aldridge — selected DeRozan as his choice to start for the East, that wasn’t possible because DeRozan trailed by too many votes. DeRozan finished fifth, but should be an easy coaches’ selection based on what other teams have been saying about his play all season.
“He’s really good. I mean, he was really good then (the first time when he was an all-star in 2014), but he’s just improved,” Boston head coach Brad Stevens said Wednesday of DeRozan.
Kobe Bryant, who will play in his final All-Star Game before his retirement at the end of the season, led all vote-getters with 1,891,614 votes, holding off a push from reigning MVP Stephen Curry.
San Antonio’s Kawhi Leonard passed Draymond Green to earn a nod of his own alongside Oklahoma City’s Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook. Nobody has scored more All-Star Game points than Bryant and nobody has averaged more than Durant.