Six-time NBA All-Star Kyle Lowry is a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania native who has played his high school ball (Cardinal Dougherty), college ball (Villanova), and professional ball (76ers) in the City of Brotherly Love. His jersey is retired at Villanova, and after signing with the 76ers in February last season, the 38-year-old Lowry has re-upped on a one-year deal to remain with the Sixers through the 2024-25 season. By just about any calculation, Kyle Lowry is the city of Philadelphia. But given what is going on fewer than one-hundred miles northeast of Philadelphia, up in New York City, you could make a case that the 76ers are facing some unexpected competition for the Philly fanbase.
In the last two years, the New York Knicks have slowly morphed into the ‘Villanova Knicks,' a cutesy term that has not only stuck, but grown even more relevant this summer. The Knicks signed Jalen Brunson two summers ago, and then inked Brunson to a team-friendly extension earlier this week. Josh Hart was acquired in a February 2023 trade with the Portland Trail Blazers. New York signed Donte DiVincenzo in the summer of 2023, and then traded multiple 1st round draft picks less than a month ago in order to bring Mikal Bridges into the fold.
Given New York's recent roster building tendencies, nobody would've been surprised if Lowry ended up signing with the Knicks instead of the 76ers this summer in order to serve as the back-up point guard to Jalen Brunson. However, when Lowry was introduced on Sunday afternoon at the American Century Championship celebrity golf tournament, he made it clear that he didn't get the call for this Villanova reunion.
Despite 18 years in the Association, Lowry is still a perfectly capable back-up point guard. He's coming off a season in which he averaged 8 points, 3 rebounds and 4 assists per game on 43/39/84 shooting splits. Production in limited minutes is not the problem. So why did the Knicks not show interest in the Villanova product?
Could it be because unlike Brunson, Hart, DiVincenzo and Bridges, Lowry never won a National Title during his two seasons at Villanova? A 52-13 record is nice, but maybe having cut down the nets is what it takes to join the Nova Knicks. In that case, I expect that Ryan Arcidiacono, Phil Booth, Kris Jenkins, Omari Spellman and Eric Paschall will soon be signing minimum deals with New York.
Kyle Lowry looks for another championship ring with Philadelphia 76ers
While the Nova Knicks quartet can boast National Championships during their time at Villanova, Kyle Lowry has something that none of those four have… an NBA Championship ring. Lowry was not just a member of the 2018-19 Toronto Raptors squad that won the NBA Title… he was the heartbeat of that franchise. Yes, Kawhi Leonard was their best player. Pascal Siakam was the emerging star. But Kyle Lowry had been the linchpin of the Toronto Raptors for damn near a decade by the time he finally captured an NBA Title. And he played one of the best games of his career — 26 points, 7 rebounds, 10 assists, 3 steals — in the Game 6 clincher of that series.
Following his long Raptors tenure, Lowry spent two and a half seasons playing for Miami Heat teams that were NBA title contenders, but it's possible that the most talented team he's ever played on is this very Philadelphia 76ers squad. After another disappointing postseason failure this past spring, the 76ers reloaded in the offseason, adding Paul George and a who's who of veterans to a core that is headlined by Joel Embiid and Tyrese Maxey.
Now, the Knicks and the 76ers are in a position where they're viewed as the two primary contenders in the Eastern Conference to the defending NBA champions, the Boston Celtics. And if that leads to another New York-Philadelphia series in the NBA Playoffs, we should consider ourselves extremely fortunate.
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