"Like I’ve said, and I’ll say it now, I will sign a one-day contract and I’ll retire as a Toronto Raptor. That is my everything," Lowry said.
"And I’ve left the franchise in a place where Pascal (Siakam) is an All-Star, right? He’s going to come back, have a great (season)," Lowry said. "Freddy (VanVleet) is going to continue to get better. He’s going to emerge as an even better leader. They’re guys who are still young. OG, you see his emergence as the offensive player. They will get more of the attention now. I would take all the blame because I wanted to. I never wanted them to have to deal with that stuff, because I just felt I could take the world on my shoulders. And they can, too, but now it’s theirs."
Lowry said his return to Toronto for the Heat's game on Feb. 3 will be emotional.
“I’m a man’s man, but I know I’m going to be a little bit sensitive and crying that day," he said. I don’t know. I might hold it in. I’ve talked to (former Raptors teammate) DeMar (DeRozan) about it. But it’s one of them days where I know it’s going to be a lot of love for me and me giving love back, it’s just going to be interesting how it goes down because I don’t know what to expect."
"Toronto was home. That was legit home," he said. "You’re spending September to June there because your kids are at school in Toronto, and to not be able to go there, it was like, ‘Damn, when will I ever go back to actually enjoy the city?’ I went back there last off-season. I had dinner and it was good just having that chance to go and sit down there. And this season, I think we’ve got three days there. I’m not looking forward to (the emotion)."
Mal or die trying
