It has been a struggle early on this season for the Philadelphia 76ers. They eked out a 107-105 win over the Charlotte Hornets in overtime on Sunday, improving their record to just 2-7. The team should be receiving Joel Embiid back on Tuesday though which provide a spark to their disappointing start.
The 38-year-old Kyle Lowry is in his first full season with the 76ers after the team added him back in February. Now in his 19th season, Lowry has certainly accumulated a lot of counting stats during his career, and now he has entered the top-20 in career assists.
Kyle Lowry Moves Into Top 20 Of Career Assists Leaderboard
Lowry Passes Tony Parker In Career Assists
In Sunday’s victory over Charlotte, Lowry tallied five assists. That now gives the 6-foot point guard 7,038 during his lengthy career. That allowed him to pass four-time NBA champion Tony Parker’s career total of 7,036. Lowry is now by himself in 20th place on the NBA’s all-time assists leaderboard.
Mostly known for his tenure with the Toronto Raptors when he made six-straight All-Star teams and won a championship, Lowry certainly has the opportunity to move further up the list. In his nine outings this season, he is averaging 3.9 dimes per night. While predicting how many of Philadelphia’s 73 remaining games he will play is nearly impossible, let’s say he appears in 55 of them.
At his current assist rate of 3.9 per contest, Lowry would total about 215 assists in 55 games. That would put him at 7,253 for his career. That total would have Lowry surpass Tim Hardaway (7,095), Terry Porter (7,160), and Lenny Wilkens (7,211) placing him 17th on the all-time list. If Lowry decided to come back for a 20th season in 2025-26, he could overtake Maurice Cheeks (7,392) as well.
Next To Have Jersey Retired By Raptors?
It was on November 2 that Vince Carter became the first player to have his jersey retired by the Raptors. On Friday, Carter made an appearance on FanDuel TV’s Run it Back show. The slam dunk legend was asked which player should be next to have his jersey retired by Toronto.
“Naturally, we’re going to say Kyle [Lowry],” Carter said. “For what he’s brought to the table to the team and what he’s done in, I think, nine years. Obviously, [Demar] DeRozan is another guy who is capable, but I think Kyle — who brought a championship there and played there for a very long time — he would be the guy, if they asked me.”
They shouldn’t need to ask Carter. It should be a decision they make without even needing Carter’s services once Lowry’s playing career is over. They don’t call Lowry the G.R.O.A.T. (Greatest Raptor of All-Time) for no reason.
Carter was correct in stating that Lowry spent nine years with Toronto. His nine seasons with the team spanned from 2012-13 to 2020-21. Lowry finds his name all over the Raptors record books as he is the franchise’s all-time leader in assists (4,277), steals (873), three-pointers made (1,518), and triple-doubles (16).
Lowry will certainly have his jersey retired by the Raptors organization. That comes later though, as he’s not done playing in the league and moving up all-time leaderboards.
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