Kyle Lowry's Jersey Retirement: A Celebration of Legacy

CALEDON, Ont. — Some jersey retirements are debates. Kyle Lowry’s was a layup.

From the moment he planted his flag in Toronto, from the charges taken to the parades led, his No. 7 felt destined for the rafters. The only mystery was how the Raptors would script the farewell for the player who helped them grow up as a franchise.

The answer: slowly, deliberately, and very publicly.

Lowry’s long goodbye, on his terms

The final act won’t come until Jan. 10, when the Raptors host LeBron James and Lowry’s hometown Philadelphia 76ers and No. 7 rises to the top of Scotiabank Arena. By then, the celebration will have been months in the making.

It started July 7, when Lowry walked back into Toronto, signed a one-day contract and did what he’d promised years earlier: retire as a Raptor. He had said during the pandemic season in Tampa that no matter where his career took him, his last deal would be in Toronto. He kept the promise.

This weekend is Stage 2. A 36‑hour victory lap, Lowry-style.

Not a red carpet. A fairway.

He opened with the KLOW Invitational at TPC Toronto at Osprey Valley on Friday, a charity golf tournament funneling money to the MLSE Foundation. On Saturday, he moves downtown for Kyle’s Block Party, a free fan event in Jurassic Park. That night, A Night For Seven, a gala again in support of the MLSE Foundation, caps the whirlwind.

The guest list tells its own story. Fred VanVleet, DeMar DeRozan, Serge Ibaka, CJ Miles, Danny Green. Nick Nurse, the coach who helped steer the 2019 title run and now leads the Sixers. They were all on the tee sheet Friday.

“It’s something I didn’t expect and I appreciate it,” Lowry said. “Words can’t describe how I feel about what they’ve done.”

The organization’s side of the bargain has been just as meticulous. Lowry left as the franchise leader in assists, steals, three-pointers, wins and playoff wins, and as the on-court architect of that lone championship. His jersey retirement wasn’t a debate. It was a schedule.

Everyone simply waited for the clock to run out on a 20-year NBA career.

Learning from Vince

The symmetry at the top of Scotiabank Arena will be striking. Carter’s No. 15 and Lowry’s No. 7, side by side. The first two numbers the Raptors have ever retired in their 32-year history.

The routes there could hardly have been more different.

Carter soared. His exit crashed.

He was traded away early in the 2004-05 season, a young superstar whose relationship with the franchise had frayed so badly he was branded a quitter by large sections of the fan base. Over time, the story grew more complicated. Carter could reasonably argue that the organization failed him as a star, that the infrastructure around him never matched his ambition.

He never turned on the city. Never turned on the fans. They turned on him.

It took nearly a decade for the anger to cool and for the Raptors and Carter to begin repairing the damage. Only then could the club start planning what became an emotional, cathartic jersey retirement in November 2024 — a full-circle night that closed the book on the franchise’s most painful breakup.

“The organization was in a far different place when Vince was here,” one insider said. “Kyle benefitted from the lessons learned from that.”

The difference is visible in everything around Lowry’s send-off. The franchise is no longer improvising its history. It’s curating it.

Nurse, now seeing the Raptors from the other bench, has watched the evolution.

“I think the organization’s just maturing as the years go by,” he said. “So you have these occasions and this success to celebrate, right? It’s still a relatively new organization in the grand scheme of things. I was in our practice facility (in Philadelphia) and we have Moses (Malone) and Dr. J up there, and now the Raptors get to start telling some of their stories too.”

Building a template

Carter’s ceremony set the tone. The Raptors didn’t just raise a banner; they built days around it. They resurfaced a court his foundation had funded in his heyday. Air Canada rolled out a signature jet for “Air Canada.”

Lowry’s celebration follows the same pattern: multiple touchpoints, public and private, fans and former teammates, charity and nostalgia intertwined.

None of it is accidental. The Raptors want their stars to feel connected, not discarded. That message is for the players they’ve already had — and the ones still watching from afar.

“Players talk, agents talk,” said one source. “They notice things like that.”

The franchise, once a way station, is trying to look like a home.

Who’s next in line?

With Carter and Lowry now immortalized, the obvious question hovers over every conversation: whose number goes up next?

DeMar DeRozan has the résumé. He is still the club’s all-time leader in points and games played, and he’s about to begin his 18th NBA season, now with the Denver Nuggets.

“I hope so,” DeRozan said when asked about a potential jersey retirement. “This will always be home for me.”

Lowry didn’t hesitate.

“Oh, No. 10 should definitely go up there,” he said. “Without a doubt.”

Pascal Siakam has a case too. Two All-NBA selections as a Raptor. A starter on the 2019 title team. Perhaps the greatest development story the organization has produced, from late first-round project to franchise pillar. He’s now with the Indiana Pacers, but his fingerprints are all over the Raptors’ modern era.

Neither DeRozan nor Siakam chose to leave Toronto. Both exits stung. In some corners, they still do. Carter’s story, though, is proof that time and intent can soften even the hardest feelings. Lowry’s is proof that the Raptors now understand the value of honoring their own.

Then there is the wild card.

Could Kawhi Leonard’s No. 2 ever join them?

On paper, a single season looks thin. Even one as seismic as 2018-19, when Leonard delivered the franchise’s only championship and one of the greatest playoff runs in recent memory. Traditionally, one year doesn’t earn you a banner.

But what if it isn’t one year?

If Leonard, now back in Toronto, finishes his career as a Raptor? If the next three seasons bring multiple playoff runs and at least one deep push? That conversation changes.

Sources suggest Leonard chose to return in part because Toronto offered something San Antonio and the Los Angeles Clippers could not by the end: the chance to be his “forever” basketball home. If that plays out, the Raptors will have another legacy puzzle to solve.

Scottie’s future, Raptors’ standard

The most intriguing case of all might be the one still being written.

Scottie Barnes, only 25 and heading into his sixth season, already owns a chunk of the Raptors’ record book. He’s eighth in franchise history in points and rebounds, sixth in assists, seventh in blocks, and should crack the top 10 in steals before Christmas. He’s a two-time all-star with a second-team All-NBA nod on his résumé, and the Raptors have reached the playoffs twice in his young career.

The organization believes there’s more coming, especially with Leonard now in the fold and expectations quietly climbing again.

Barnes watched Carter’s number go up. He’ll be in the building when Lowry’s follows.

If his day comes, he won’t be stepping into the uncertainty Carter faced, or the improvisation that marked the Raptors’ early years. He’ll walk into a franchise that has learned how to celebrate greatness, how to keep its icons close, and how to make sure the journey to the rafters feels worthy of the players whose numbers never come down.

That, as much as any banner, is the legacy Lowry and Carter leave behind.