Kyle Lowry isn't one to hold back on the truth.
As the Toronto Raptors brace for yet another postseason run, the franchise's longest-tenured player knows there's only one way to quiet down the team's critics -- he and the Raptors have to win the championship. Via Tim Bontemps of ESPN:
"Nothing," Lowry said, when asked what it will take from him to change people's minds. "They obviously don't look at the numbers. ... The only way is to win a championship, to be honest.
"But, that's critics. That's what they do."
Lowry has been hounded with plenty of criticism for the Raptors' postseason shortcomings over the past five years. Since the beginning of this run (2013-14) by the Raptors, Toronto was eliminated in the first round in each of their first two postseason appearances despite winning the division title in each of those years.
After finishing with a then-franchise record 56 wins during the 2015-16 campaign, Toronto was eliminated in six games in the Eastern Conference finals by LeBron James' Cleveland Cavaliers. This began a streak of three consecutive seasons where the Raptors lost to the Cavaliers in the playoffs, including sweeps during the 2017 and 2018 semifinals.
While Lowry has played better from a statistical point of view over the past three postseasons in comparison to the first two years of this run, it hasn't changed people's perception of him as a lackluster playoff performer. The five-time All-Star explains why that's the case.
"The last couple years, I've played great in the playoffs. This is one thing about the NBA: You play to get to a certain point, and then once you lose, you're zero. You're back at the bottom. You have to play to get to that point again, but at the same time, it's like, 'Damn. When is it going to come? When is it going to happen?'
"It's kind of like ... it's a waiting game. But I know Kawhi [Leonard] said these games are practices, but it's about your team, and it's about getting work in and continuing to get better as a team. And then in the playoffs, that's where it matters.
"That's all that really matters."
During the Raptors' last three postseason appearances, Lowry has converted on 43.3 percent of his field-goal attempts to go along with 6.6 assists per game. He actually shot a career-high 50.8 percent during their postseason run last year. Compare that to his numbers during the first two years of this postseason run (37.3 percent field goals, 4.7 assists) and you can see how much better he's been as of late.
With LeBron and the Cavaliers officially out of the Eastern Conference playoff picture, the Raptors have revamped their entire personnel structure. The results have been nothing but positive as newcomers such as Kawhi Leonard and Danny Green have changed the culture along with first-year head coach Nick Nurse.
Toronto will enter the 2019 NBA playoffs as the No. 2 seed and in better health than the No. 1-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, although the Bucks are getting healthier at the right time.
While the Raptors aren't exactly expected to defeat the Golden State Warriors in the NBA Finals, it would be a massive disappointment if this squad can't at least reach the Eastern Conference finals. That said, if Lowry fails to once again help lead Toronto to the NBA Finals, he's 100 percent correct, the narrative won't change regarding his playoff shortcomings.
