Kyle Lowry Honored With Literal Raptor Statue In Toronto As City Celebrates His Greatness
He spent a formative nine years with the franchise, and after retiring earlier this summer, the Raptors honored him this weekend.
Black News 
When it comes to modern-day NBA players synonymous with the Toronto Raptors, behind Vince Carter, there’s Kyle Lowry.
He spent a formative nine years with the franchise, and after retiring earlier this summer, the Raptors honored him this weekend.
First, he signed an honorary one-day contract with the team for July 7, or 7/7, an obvious nod to his jersey number, and the celebration kicked off Saturday with a free block party as fans roared in Maple Leaf Square.
Toronto etched his name into the Raptors’ history books with a bronze statue in front of Scotiabank Arena. Only instead of a life-like statue modeled after his 6’1” stature, it’s actually the team’s velociraptor— tail included.
It is, however, wearing his No. 7 jersey and a massive championship ring on its left middle finger in honor of Lowry helping the city reach its first Finals win in franchise history in 2019.
The base makes the dinosaur a bit more appropriate, referring to Lowry as The GROAT, or greatest Raptor of all time, and notes his tenure from 2012 to 2021.
Mayor Olivia Chow was also on hand for the celebration and bestowed Lowry with a key to the city, as Lowry greeted fans and took in the support.
“We started this, the whole Jurassic Park thing, everybody wants to have their own little version, but take pride in knowing we were the first to do this,” he said from the riser, with former Miami Heat teammate Kevin Love on hand to celebrate.
Next up is the jersey retirement scheduled for January 10, 2027, and in August he already revealed how excited he is for that ceremony.
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment for years. I always said that Toronto is home, and that I’d retire a Raptor, and to see my No. 7 go up in that building is going to mean everything to me,” Lowry told ESPN at the time. “We built something special here — my teammates, the organization, the city and the fans, and all of Canada. We became champions together, and to be able to share this night with all of them, and with my family, is going to mean a lot to me.”
See reactions to the celebratory day below.
