Kyle Lowry’s No. 7 to Be Retired by Raptors
For years, only one Raptor has looked down from the rafters at Scotiabank Arena: Vince Carter, the high-flying original icon. Soon, he’ll have company from the player who came to define the franchise’s greatest era.
The Toronto Raptors announced Thursday that they will retire Kyle Lowry’s No. 7 on Jan. 10, when the team hosts his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. On that night, the jersey of the guard who dragged, willed and steered the Raptors into champions will rise permanently above the floor he helped transform.
Lowry, now 40 and retired after the 2025-26 season, didn’t hide what the moment means to him in a statement released by the team.
“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,” he said.
He meant it literally. After finishing his career with the 76ers, Lowry signed a one-day contract on July 7 to retire as a Raptor, formally closing the loop on a nine-season run that reshaped both his career and the franchise’s identity.
From adopted son to all-time great
Lowry did not arrive in Toronto as a sure thing. He left as a benchmark.
Over nine seasons, he became the heartbeat of a team that went from punchline to powerhouse, culminating in the 2019 NBA title — the first in Raptors history and a championship that altered basketball’s place in Canada. His fingerprints are all over that climb: the charges taken, the late-game threes, the barking at teammates and referees, the refusal to back down from anyone.
“We built something special here — my teammates, the organization, the city and the fans, and all of Canada,” Lowry said. “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.”
The numbers back up the emotion. Lowry made six All-Star teams, every one of them as a Raptor. He earned All-NBA third-team honours in 2015-16, a season that helped cement his place among the league’s elite guards. He closed his career with averages of 13.8 points, six assists and four rebounds per game — solid on the surface, but only part of the story for a player whose value so often lived in the gaps between the box-score lines.
Within the franchise record book, his name is everywhere. Lowry is Toronto’s all-time leader in assists, steals, three-pointers and triple-doubles. He ranks second in both games played and points, and he sits atop the Raptors’ playoff lists in points and games as well.
Those playoff numbers carry a signature moment: Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals. On the road, with a title on the line, Lowry opened the night by scoring the Raptors’ first 11 points, setting a tone of composure and aggression that never really wavered until the trophy was theirs.
A week-long salute
The organization plans to stretch the celebration beyond a single evening. Toronto will honour Lowry at home games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 7 and the Utah Jazz on Jan. 8 with special events leading into the Jan. 10 ceremony.
It’s a fitting build-up for a player many regard as the greatest Raptor of all time — not just for what he won, but for how he won it. Lowry’s toughness, his all-around game, his stubborn competitiveness turned a franchise and a fan base into believers.
Soon, No. 7 will hang high above the court, next to No. 15, a permanent reminder of the era when the Raptors stopped chasing legitimacy and started setting the standard.
The question now isn’t whether Lowry belongs there. It’s whose number, if anyone’s, will ever feel worthy of joining his.
