Toronto Raptors All-Star point guard Kyle Lowry says he wore a Damon Stoudamire jersey during Monday's championship parade as a tribute to Stoudamire and the humble beginnings of the franchise.
The Raptors' first season in the NBA was back in 1995. Toronto drafted Stoudamire with the seventh overall pick in the 1995 Draft out of the University of Arizona. The lefty played 200 games for the Raptors and Lowry wanted to pay his respects to Stoudamire.
Why did Kyle Lowry wear the Damon Stoudamire jersey: "He was the first player drafted here, it was kind of a remembrance how long it took the start of a great franchise, and yes this is a game-worn, original jersey."
— Ryan Wolstat (@WolstatSun) June 17, 2019
Stoudamire is still the Raptors' all-time franchise leader in assists per game, averaging 8.8 per contest. Now that Toronto finally has a championship on their belt, Lowry wanted to make sure he remembered the players who paved the way for him and the rest of his teammates.
It was an up and down 2019 playoffs for Lowry, who didn't score a single point against the Orlando Magic in the first game of the postseason. As he's always done, though, Lowry ignored the critics and just kept on playing basketball the only way he knows how. As a result, Toronto won the championship and Lowry is now arguably the greatest Raptor in franchise history.
Overall in the 2019 playoffs, Lowry averaged 15.0 points while shooting 43.9 percent from the field and 35.9 percent from beyond the arc. He also dished out 6.6 assists per game.
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