The Toronto Raptors will get a much-awaited Christmas Day game, customary of championship-winning teams, after years of getting snubbed out of it. Point guard Kyle Lowry was never one to complain, but even if this symbolic Christmas game is a one-and-done ordeal, he won't let anyone discredit their championship effort, even if it came with a superstar mirage in one-year rental Kawhi Leonard:
“No. Not at all. We’re champions,” Lowry said, according to Michael Lee of The Athletic. “That will never be taken away from us. Ever. Ever, ever. Ever, ever.”
Lowry, like many of his teammates, saw Leonard leave after a thrilling six days of free agency, but he doesn't regret any part of his one-year passage with him as the star of the team:
“He gave us everything he had,” Lowry continued. “He played his butt off. He helped us win a championship. You’ve got to respect that, right?”
Leonard wasn't recruited by any of his teammates, as most knew the best pitch had already been made by management with his load management and the hardware he earned with this team:
“I’ve never been a recruiter. So it ain’t going to happen. It won’t ever happen,” Lowry said. “I let guys make their own decisions. You want guys to make a decision based on their happiness and that’s what they did.”
While the championship had a sweet and sour feeling to it, Kyle Lowry is still a champion in the books. He can now bring that championship experience along with his gold-medal winning one to a hopeful Team USA in the upcoming competition.
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