After being the starting point guard for the Miami Heat for the most part of the season, Kyle Lowry saw himself demoted to a bench role in March following a lengthy injury layoff. He has since been relegated as part of the second unit, and to his credit, the six-time All-Star has shined in this new role.

Heat head coach Erik Spoelstra has nothing but high praise for Lowry. Coach Spo knows that the 37-year-old is now in the twilight of his career, but Spoelstra has given Lowry a lot of credit for keeping his fire burning, so to speak:

“He's all about winning,” Spoelstra said of Lowry. “At this stage in his career, when you have more yesterdays than tomorrows, it's really about these kind of competitive moments on the biggest stage. That's what drives him more than anything is the ultimate competition.”

Spoelstra then opened up about the thought process that went into permanently assigning Lowry as part of the second unit. According to the two-time NBA champion coach, it was a decision that came naturally:

“It was a relatively easy decision to take him off the bench because we had to shut him down for five weeks,” Coach Spo said.

Spoelstra then revealed that he received some backlash after playing Lowry 36 minutes in his first game back from injury. At that point, Coach Spo knew that he had to make the necessary adjustments to maximize Lowry's ability to impact the team:

“We had to protect each other, and the only way to do that was to get him off the bench so he can control the minutes,” Spoelstra continued. “He excelled in that role. By the time we got to the playoffs, even though he could handle more minutes, we just stayed with it. He was really secure with that. I think he's embraced that. Our second unit now is one of our biggest strengths as a team. We were struggling with our second unit for various reasons for most of the season, and he kinda just fixed all that on his own.”

Kyle Lowry has since been a gem for the Heat coming off the bench. As Spoelstra said, he almost single-handedly transformed the second unit. Miami will need more of the same from him in the NBA Finals against the Denver Nuggets with the series now tied at 1-1. Lowry is no superstar, but he will have to play an undeniably crucial role for the Heat if they hope to go all the way this season.