The Toronto Raptors announced they will raise Kyle Lowry’s No. 7 to the rafters next season, honoring the promise Lowry made early in his Toronto tenure to finish his career with the franchise. The retirement announcement was posted on Instagram on July 7, a date that mirrors the jersey he wore for nine seasons in Toronto.

Lowry entered the league as the 24th overall pick in the 2006 NBA draft, selected by the Memphis Grizzlies before beginning his NBA journey with the Houston Rockets. He spent four seasons in Houston, then was traded to Toronto in 2012, where he became a six-time All-Star, an Olympic gold-medal winner, and the cornerstone of the 2019 championship team. He closed his playing days with the Philadelphia 76ers, appearing in 14 games before hanging up his sneakers at age 40.

While in Houston, Lowry distinguished himself as only the third player in Rockets history to post a season with at least 1,000 points, 500 assists and 100 three-pointers. Over a 20-year career, he averaged 13.8 points and six assists per game, and his 2,209 made three-pointers rank 14th on the NBA’s all-time list. He joins a select group of 12 players who have logged two decades in the league.

“This is a wonderful moment,” Lowry said at a press conference in Toronto. “I always said that I’d retire a Toronto Raptor and that was everything. This place is, I call it home. I mean it, through and through, everything about the city of Toronto, the country of Canada. It’s done special wonders for me.” The quote underscores how Lowry views the city and franchise as the defining chapter of his career.

The upcoming jersey-raising ceremony will provide the Raptors an opportunity to celebrate a player who helped shape the team’s identity and culture. It will also serve as a bridge between the championship era that Lowry helped forge and the next generation of Toronto talent, reinforcing the franchise’s commitment to honoring its most influential figures.