Chris Paul Had One Thing to Say About Kyle Lowry’s Retirement. It Was Perfect.

Kyle Lowry is officially done. And he went out the only way that made sense — as a Raptor.

The six-time All-Star signed a one-day contract with Toronto on Tuesday and announced his retirement, ending a 19-year career that started in Memphis and peaked with a championship in 2019. Lowry leaves as the franchise’s all-time leader in assists, steals and three-pointers, and probably the most beloved Raptor since Vince Carter was dunking on everything that moved.

But maybe the best sign of respect came from someone who knew the grind as well as anybody.

Chris Paul, who hung it up earlier this year after 20 seasons, posted a quick congratulations on Instagram. Just two words and two emojis: “Congrats bro!! 🤞🏾✊🏾” That was it. No long essay. No career retrospective. Just a nod between two guys who spent a decade battling in the same era, at the same position, with the same chip on their shoulders.

Paul and Lowry never met in the playoffs. That’s a shame, because a Rockets-Raptors series in the late 2010s would have been something. But they didn’t need a postseason showdown to recognize each other. Both were pass-first point guards who could flip a switch and score when their teams needed it. Both played defense like it mattered. Both were relentlessly competitive, sometimes to a fault.

Lowry’s career numbers — 14.8 points and 6.2 assists per game — don’t jump off the page like some of his peers. But the Raptors don’t win that 2019 title without him. He was the engine of that team, the guy who kept things from falling apart when Kawhi Leonard was load-managing or when the bench went cold. He also dragged Toronto out of the lottery in the early 2010s, turning a franchise that had been a punchline into a perennial contender.

After the Raptors shipped him to Miami in 2022 as part of their rebuild, Lowry spent two seasons with the Heat and a partial year in Philadelphia. But everyone knew he’d come back to Toronto to finish it. That’s how it works for guys like him.

Lowry walks away as a six-time All-Star, one All-NBA selection, and the only Raptor to have his jersey retired before he even stopped playing. (The team hasn’t made it official, but it’s coming.) He also leaves behind a standard for what a franchise point guard should look like: tough, unselfish and annoying to play against in the best possible way.

Paul knew that better than most.