Kyle Lowry

Kyle Lowry met Ayahna Cornish in high school. They were both students at Cardinal Dougherty. Cornish was part of their basketball program as well. They have since married and become parents to two sons, Karter and Kameron.

In 2013, Lowry and Cornish set up the Lowry Love Foundation, which aims to improve the lives of underprivileged children.

Lowry has been a long-time critic of the current US president Donald Trump. In January 2017, he referred to certain executive actions of the Trump administration (colloquially known as Trump Travel Ban) as “bullshit”. Later that year, he compared the US president to a six-year-old child.

Kyle Lowry was born on March 25, 1986, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, to Lonnie Lowry Sr. and Marie Holloway. He has a brother named Lonnie Jr., who is five years older than him. His parents broke up when Kyle was young.

He had a difficult childhood. His father was never really involved in his or his brother’s upbringing, despite residing only ten minutes away from them. As a result, he was predominantly raised by his mother, with the help of his grandmother. Marie worked two jobs to provide for her children and tried her best to keep them away from the violent streets of North Philadelphia.

It was Lonnie, Jr. who served as the male role model for Lowry during his formative years and encouraged him to play basketball. As a youth, Lowry was athletic and also played baseball and football.

Baseball was the first sport at which he became exceptionally good and the skills he demonstrated on the football field were not terrible either. However, Lonnie, Jr. convinced his brother to pursue basketball more seriously. He trained Lowry to dribble with his off hand and put him in pick-up games with older boys.

With his brother’s guidance, it did not take Lowry long to become actively interested in the game. He started playing basketball before and after school and in the winters, he and his friends would look around for an indoor court where they would be allowed to play.

In the 2006 NBA draft, the Memphis Grizzlies recruited Kyle Lowry as their 24th overall pick. He subsequently signed a two-year contract with the team on July 9. In his inaugural NBA season, Lowry played ten games, averaging 5.6 points, 3.1 rebounds, 3.2 assists, and 1.4 steals per game.

While he had envisioned a long career with the Grizzlies, the team selected Mike Conley, Jr., another point guard, during the 2007 NBA draft. After Lionel Hollins joined the Grizzlies as their new coach in 2009, Lowry was traded to the Houston Rockets.

Lowry played four seasons for the Rockets. In his debut season with the team, he also went on to make his first appearance in the playoffs, where he played 13 games, registering 5.3 points, 2.9 rebounds, 2.5 assists, and 0.9 steals in average per game.

He had developed a deep bond with the Rockets’ then coach Rick Adelman. However, Adelman was replaced with head coach Kevin McHale in June 2011.

Despite the success he accumulated with the Rockets, Lowry had several disagreements with McHale. He was eventually let go by the team after the 2011-12 season so they could invest their money on other players and draft picks. Later on, Lowry would come to regret his conflict with McHale and offer the latter an apology.

Kyle Lowry was included in the US basketball delegation to the 2016 Summer Olympics. Distinguishing himself with his defence and leadership abilities, he marshalled his national team to a gold medal win.