Dwane Casey is set to face off against his former team — the Toronto Raptors — and its players expect an emotional night on his return.
As per the Associated Press via NBC Sports, Raptors star guard Kyle Lowry admitted it's going to be different, but it won't necessarily mean that he'll take his foot off the gas pedal. Lowry also reminisced on his relationship with Casey:
“It’s going to be different, but hey, I’m still going to try to take his head off, the team’s head off,” Lowry said with a laugh.
“It turned into a great coach-player relationship. And him having young kids, and me having … they played soccer together, so we created a bond off the court also.”
Apart from Lowry, center Jonas Valanciunas acknowledged the good things that Casey has done for the city of Toronto and the ballclub. But from a business standpoint, he said that it's best that they move on. It's just the way of life:
“He did some really good things for the city, for the team. I think everybody respects him,” Valanciunas said. “(But) as a business we’ve got to move on and he (ended) up pretty well, so that is life. Sometimes we’re separating.”
The Pistons will visit the Raptors on Wednesday night — marking Casey's homecoming after being fired over the summer. Casey, who spent seven seasons as head coach, will have a video tribute early in the game.
In his stint as head coach, Casey guided the Raptors excellent regular season campaigns, including a franchise-record, 59 wins last year. He also helped the team to multiple playoff appearances and made it as far as the Eastern Conference Finals.
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