Feature Story Kyle Lowry

The 2014 NBA season has brought nothing but success for star point guard Kyle Lowry. He  proved he is capable of making an NBA all star team, but was cut from the team as a finalist  the past 2 years. So this year, Lowry is making an early case as to why he deserves the honor, because he has elevated his game to ground breaking numbers. He emerged last year into a star point guard, and the Toronto Raptors were able to make the playoffs behind Lowry's breakout season. Not only has Kyle Lowry made an impact on the court but he has also made an impact off the court as well. Starting last season, Lowry created his own non profitable organization named Lowry Love Foundation, that is targeted to help underprivileged  kids in the Philadelphia area by giving back to the community. His foundation also helps Toronto children as well,not just the area he grew up in.
     Growing up, Lowry had to battle through hardships and doubt to even get a chance in the NBA. After being raised in North Philadelphia, Lowry jump started his journey at Cardinal Dougherty high school. As a freshman, Lowry came into high school under 6ft tall, but provided scrappiness and provided points for his high school team. The highlight of his high school career came in 2004, when he averaged 19 points, 8 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals as a senior, and was named Pennsylvania High School Player of the Year.
     Coming out of high school however, Lowry was tagged with a "hot head" reputation, because many coaches thought Kyle lacked the maturity to lead a team.

      "He was a handful, boy," Wright said. "Everything he did on the court was about being small and not backing down to anybody and being tougher than everybody. You loved that about him. But off the court, he did the same thing with authority. He never wanted people around him to see that someone was going to tell him what to do. And in his mind, it was kind of cowering if you gave in to that."

He lacked command off the court as well. Many times, his personality got him into trouble, but Villanova wanted to take a chance on Lowry, and had no idea what path Kyle Lowry was going to follow. The path for any athlete is either pass into the NBA or fail. He approached the game differently, but his consistent work ethic helped his chances of getting drafted into the NBA. In just 2 short years, Lowry was drafted by the Memphis Grizzles in the first round, after leaving the Villanova Wildcats with 543 career points, 219 rebounds and 171 total assists. He was also named to the Big East Second Team All Conference, Big East Honor Roll, First Team All Big 5, Big All-Rookie Team and Philadelphia Big 5 Rookie of the Year. 
     Lowry was traded from Memphis to the Houston Rockets, where he played off the bench, with occasional minutes in the starting lineup. In his last season with the rockets, Lowry averaged 14 points per game, 6.6 assists, and 3.5 rebounds per game. It wasn't until Lowry was traded to Toronto that his career took off. Lowry last season improved his averages, and developed himself into a leader, and lead a young Toronto team to the playoffs. He managed to put up career numbers, which led to a major contract extension in the off season.  Last season, he averaged 17.9 points per game, 7.4 assists and 4.7 rebounds per game. Between him and Demar Derozan, both combined to average over 30 points per game. They are one of the most underated duo back court in the NBA, but this season, they used it as motivation. Both players led the Raptors to a franchise record start, and are poised to return to the playoffs once again.
     As for Lowry he learned from his past teammates to guide his potential and shape out his NBA future. He valued his coaches and former teammates, and now sees all the advice payoff. The one person Lowry looked upon for advice was from former NBA stud, Chauncey Billups.

     “Chauncey pushed me,” Lowry said. “He pushed me mentally to challenge myself. He just has this aura about him like you don’t want to upset him. You want to make sure he’s like, ‘Good job.’ There are some people in this world that you just be like, ‘Man, just give me some praise.’ And the little bit of praise, the sky’s the limit for that. There’s not many people I say I look up to. I don’t look up to people like that. [But] I look up to him.”