There are returns that feel scheduled, and then there are returns that feel earned in real time, pulled out of the air by a crowd that refuses to let a night end without saying thank you.
On Monday, the Toronto Raptors were being pushed around at home by the Philadelphia 76ers when the building decided it wanted something else from the fourth quarter. With the game tilted toward Philadelphia, the chant started rolling through Scotiabank Arena:
“We want Lowry!”
It lasted for nearly six minutes, loud enough that it stopped being a request and became an instruction.
Kyle Lowry, 39 years old and deep into a rare 20th NBA season, had no guarantee he’d even play. He knew what it would take: a comfortable Sixers lead, the right clock, the right moment. When those conditions finally arrived, Philadelphia up 16, Nick Nurse walked into the scene like a director who understood the script better than anyone in the room. Nurse, the coach who led Toronto to the 2019 championship with Lowry as his heartbeat, subbed him in for Tyrese Maxey for the final two minutes of a 115–102 Sixers win. The arena stood.
This is awesome
Kyle Lowry (the greatest raptor of all time) got to play in Toronto one final time after fans chanted his name
Chills pic.twitter.com/sCuak7m4kU
— Philly Sports Sufferer (@mccrystal_alex) January 13, 2026
It was, by any technical measure, a cameo. Lowry checked in for the final 1:57, went 0-for-3, and even airballed a three on his first shot. But the moment belonged to memory: the decade of stubborn charges, the playoff wars, the cold-blooded pull-ups, the way Lowry’s edge became the Raptors’ identity.
Lowry called it “probably one of the greatest basketball moments” of his personal career, which says everything about how Toronto lives inside him. Nurse admitted he’d been planning to do it, but the crowd still sounded surprised when he finally made the call, like they couldn’t quite believe the coach would actually hand them the exact thing they were chanting for.
The scene also carried a little symmetry. Nurse didn’t get Lowry into Sunday’s game, an overtime loss in the same back-to-back set, so Monday became the window, one last chance for Toronto to see No. 7 on their floor in live action, not just on tribute videos. Lowry, who spent nine seasons with the Raptors and helped deliver the franchise’s first title, has said repeatedly that he plans to sign a one-day contract to retire as a Raptor. Monday night looked like a prelude to that eventual ceremony, a small, unscripted piece of closure that still managed to feel enormous.
