There was plenty to take in at Media Day for the Toronto Raptors this year. In one corner, Kyle Lowry showed off a seriously slimmed down physique. In another, Bismack Biyombo acted as an impromptu photographer for James Johnson. Canadians Cory Joseph and Anthony Bennett — fresh off of signing a contract on Sunday afternoon — mingled with fellow new Raptors Luis Scola and DeMarre Carroll while rookies Delon Wright and Norman Powell excitedly surveyed the scene. DeMar DeRozan sported a new hairstyle and the ease that comes along with being the longest tenured Raptors player as Bruno Caboclo and Lucas Nogueira took turns mugging for the cameras.
Key free-agent acquisition Carroll said he’s spent the past few weeks in Toronto, working out with new teammates and exploring the city. Speaking about the excitement he’s seen from Raptors fans, he promised to bring the “grit and grind” to Toronto. After playing in one of the NBA’s best offences with the Atlanta Hawks last season, Carroll wants to show his teammates that unselfish play results in success for everyone involved.
“Once you see it, you see the success in it, it kind of takes you by storm,” Carroll said. “Just like an average individual, you might go do something and it might not work, but if you see success in it, you keep doing it. I think once you see success in it, it makes you want to do it even more.
“Passing up a good shot for a great shot,” he continued. “I think if I can kind of bring that over here too, teach guys that every shot you get that’s a good shot, you can always pass up for a great shot.”
Carroll isn’t the only new Raptor to come from a successful system. Joseph returns home to Toronto after spending his first four seasons with San Antonio, where he earned a ring in his third year in the league. The Spurs organization is the model for consistency and professionalism. Scola is going into his ninth NBA season and comes to the Raptors with a reputation for being one of the best teammates in the league. Beyond his NBA tenure, he has played professionally for 20 years and still dominates the international game, most recently in the FIBA Americas, where Argentina faced off against Joseph and Team Canada.
“Luis is the best,” Lowry said. “He's my guy. He's been a friend now for years, I played with him three and a half years in Houston, and when I seen that signing, I actually really smiled and I was excited to get back here. I know his family, his kids, I look forward to seeing him now.” General Manager Masai Ujiri echoed Lowry’s sentiments.
“He’s spectacular,” Ujiri said. “When we spoke to teams that have had him, the one thing (that kept coming up) was you can’t keep him out of the gym. He keeps coming and practice and practice and working out. He’s just that kind of guy. He’s built that way. He’s made himself very durable for a long time. He’s going to add to us. Super person. Super family. We’re excited to have him.” Beyond what they’ll be able to bring on court, Carroll, Joseph and Scola will also add to a locker room that will be without veterans Amir Johnson, Chuck Hayes and Tyler Hansbrough who went elsewhere in free agency.
“They come from winning programs,” Ujiri said. “They’ve won where they’ve been. They understand how to create a culture of winning basketball. Being around these guys these last few weeks has been so impressive, just the way they carry themselves on the court, around their teammates, even the people who work here. They’ve been phenomenal for us. We’re excited to add those guys.”
“I know they’ll bring more than basketball on the court, especially guys like Scola and Cory,” Continued. “I couldn’t believe it. They played on [a] Saturday in Mexico [for FIBA Americas]. And they were in here on Monday with lifting. It says a lot about them. DeMarre has been here the last couple of weeks [as well]. It’s impressive. Hopefully all of those good traits translate to the court and win.”
Although it’s Lowry’s fourth season with the team, the 29-year-old point guard is looking more like the college-aged Lowry from Villanova. Earlier this summer, Lowry created a buzz over social media when New York Knicks bigman Kyle O’Quinn instagrammed a photo showing a slimmed-down Lowry among a group of guys training. Fans and fellow NBA players alike left comments on O’Quinn’s photo, commenting on Lowry’s weight loss. DeRozan said he made him fly out to Los Angeles so he could see the changes in person, before declaring his teammate “more aerodynamic.” Lowry wouldn’t give an exact number of pounds lost, but admitted he couldn’t recall the last time he’d been at this weight.
“Kyle put his nose to the grind and did that all himself,” Raptors head coach Dwane Casey said. “He’s the one who had his own trainer. He had his own regimen that he went through this summer that most of our guys probably couldn’t make it through. He ran the hills in Vegas, he did a lot of stuff that he did on his own. And my hat is off to him for doing that because he could’ve relaxed and took the summer off but he didn’t. He knew what he had to do and he did it.”
Although Lowry’s new look was a big topic of conversation during media day, he was more concerned with what’s next for the team: a competitive training camp beginning in Vancouver on Tuesday. “It's a new day, a new year, media day,” Lowry said. “It's a new training camp, now we've got to do something with it.”
Lowry wasn’t the only player ready to get media day over with and move on to training camp. Despite only being a Raptor since July, Carroll is already in sync with Casey and the rest of the coaching staff.
“First and foremost we’ve got to think defensively,” Carroll said. “We’ll start there."