When the Miami Heat acquired veteran point guard Kyle Lowry last summer, it was seen by many as the best and most significant offseason addition by any team in the NBA.
But his performance and impact weren’t perhaps quite what Heat fans expected.
While at a charity golf tournament held by Nick Nurse, his former coach on the Toronto Raptors, Lowry admitted that some off-the-court issues were eating him up this past season.
Heat guard Kyle Lowry today at Nick Nurse’s charity golf tournament explaining he’s still dealing with personal reasons that kept him away from the team.
“When it’s better I’ll talk about it more. It was definitely something that kinda derailed my whole season.”
🎥 @Raptors pic.twitter.com/CvYf70hz7m
— Will Manso (@WillManso) August 4, 2022
Lowry did miss several games around midseason due to what was called a family issue, although no specifics were given at the time.
He got off to a lackluster start in the fall, at least in terms of his shooting efficiency, although he picked things up and shot the ball very well following his absence.
It was hoped that Lowry’s presence would be the missing piece to the championship puzzle come playoff time, but a hamstring injury hampered him and forced him to miss multiple postseason contests. With the guard ailing, the Heat lost the Eastern Conference Finals in seven games to the Boston Celtics.
The Philadelphia native, when he was right this past season, showed signs of developing into a glue guy for Miami, and even in his mid-30s, his ball-handling, passing, defense and hustle seemed to have an impact.
He is under contract for two more seasons, although if the Heat decide to make a strong push for either Kevin Durant or Donovan Mitchell, Lowry could leave South Florida to make a deal happen.
