Toronto Raptors point man Kyle Lowry and team president Masai Ujiri had a much-needed sit down conversation to clear things up after months had passed since the latter traded his backcourt mate and best friend DeMar DeRozan in the offseason.
Lowry had been all business from the start of the season but had yet to address things with Ujiri after obviously hurting from the departure of his longtime teammate.
“It was a well-needed conversation,” Lowry told Shams Charania of The Athletic. “It was a very professional conversation and it had to be done. We had to get everything on the table. Listen, ‘Let’s have this conversation, let’s get everything out on the table, and move on.’ And that’s what grown men do. They have conversations, they figure it out, and you move on.
“It wasn’t a ‘F*** you, f*** you.’ It wasn’t me asking, ‘Hell, you want to trade me?’ At the end of the day, he’s going to make the decisions, right? I’m going to play no matter what it is. It was about making myself the best player that I can possibly be and getting on the same page about what he needs from me to be the best player — and vice versa. Just getting on the same page.”
Instead, the conversation served a practical purpose for Lowry and Ujiri.
“It was all about the now,” said Lowry. “It was about: How do we make every day work to the best of our abilities? We said: ‘This is what I would like to see done. This is what you should do. This is how we’re going to keep going.’”
Lowry put the highest assist numbers of his career in 2018-19, meshing with new teammate Kawhi Leonard and making the most of his opportunity with this new-look roster.
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