Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry doesn't think his conditioning is the reason for his struggles during the 2021-22 season. Instead, he believes it's more like continuity for him.
In his first season with the Heat, Lowry recorded his lowest point average since the 2009-10 season, scoring 13.4 points per game. He also tallied 4.5 rebounds and 7.5 assists, but he was non-impactful for the most part for Miami–especially in the postseason when he recorded 7.8 points, 3.6 boards, 4.7 dimes and 1.2 steals.
After their playoffs run ended in the second round against the Boston Celtics, Heat president Pat Riley made it a point to emphasize that Lowry needs to be in better shape this offseason. This has led many to believe that the veteran guard's poor performance was a result of his bad conditioning with the Heat.
Speaking to reporters recently, though, Lowry dispelled those notions and highlighted that his biggest problem last season was he wasn't able to build much chemistry and continuity with the team due to his absences.
“I’m still dealing with it,” Lowry said, referring to the personal issue that forced him to miss several games for the Heat in mid-January of the 2021-22 campaign, via Fresno Bee.
“It’s a situation when it’s better, I’ll talk about it more. But it’s definitely something that kind of derailed my whole season and kept me derailed for a long time. Still, to this day, it’s still something I deal with every single day. I actually got a phone call just now about it.”
For those not in the know, Kyle Lowry missed nine straight games at one point during the past season due to personal reasons. While he was still able to play 63 out of the possible 82 games, it's not surprising why he thinks his absences was a major factor in his poor play. After all, whenever it looked like he would be stringing some good games, he'd be out.
Hopefully the 2022-23 campaign will be different for Lowry and the Heat. With Miami having some title aspirations, they'll really need their playmaker to be mentally and physically locked in.
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