Kyle Lowry's No. 7 Jersey Retirement Ceremony
The Scotiabank Arena rafters are getting a little more crowded — and a lot more familiar.
Kyle Lowry, the heartbeat of the Toronto Raptors’ golden era, will have his No. 7 jersey retired on Jan. 10, when Toronto hosts his hometown Philadelphia 76ers. Until now, Vince Carter’s No. 15 stood alone as the franchise’s lone tribute in the rafters. That changes for good on a night built for the player who changed what the Raptors could be.
Lowry has been waiting for this.
“I’ve been looking forward to this moment for years. I always said that Toronto is home, and that I’d retire a Raptor, and to see my No. 7 go up in that building is going to mean everything to me,” he said in a statement released by the team.
He didn’t just play in Toronto. He helped build something that lasted.
“We built something special here — my teammates, the organization, the city and the fans, and all of Canada. We became champions together, and to be able to share this night with all of them, and with my family, is going to mean a lot to me.”
A week for No. 7
The ceremony on Jan. 10 will be the centerpiece of a full-on Lowry celebration.
The Raptors plan to honour him at home games against the Minnesota Timberwolves on Jan. 7 and the Utah Jazz on Jan. 8, turning that stretch into a three-game tribute to the guard who dragged the franchise from plucky outsider to NBA royalty.
By then, Lowry will be nearly two years removed from his final NBA minutes. The 40-year-old closed his playing career with the 76ers in the 2025-26 season before doing what so many in Toronto had long expected: signing a one-day contract on July 7 to retire officially as a Raptor.
It was a formality. His legacy there was already cemented.
The greatest Raptor?
Within the fan base, the debates will never fully end — Carter’s electricity, DeMar DeRozan’s loyalty, Kawhi Leonard’s ruthlessness in 2019. But in the eyes of many, Lowry is the greatest Raptor of them all.
Nine seasons. One championship. And an imprint on every meaningful moment of the franchise’s rise.
Known for his toughness, charges taken, loose balls won and that unmistakable scowl-turned-smirk, Lowry blended grit with control. He made six All-Star teams, all with Toronto, and earned All-NBA third-team honours in 2015-16, the season that helped push the Raptors into the league’s serious tier.
His career numbers — 13.8 points, 6.0 assists and 4.0 rebounds per game — only hint at his impact. The deeper you go into the Raptors’ record book, the clearer it becomes.
Lowry is the franchise leader in assists, steals, three-pointers and triple-doubles. He sits second in games played and points. When the lights brightened in spring, he only dug in further: he tops Toronto’s all-time playoff lists in both points and games.
And then there’s the night that will live in franchise folklore.
Game 6 of the 2019 NBA Finals, in Oakland. Toronto with a chance to close out the Golden State Warriors. Lowry walked into that game like a man intent on settling every old score in one evening. He scored the Raptors’ first 11 points, set the tone, and never let it go. By the final buzzer, Toronto had its first NBA title and Lowry had the defining performance of his career.
That’s the version of him the crowd will remember when No. 7 starts its slow climb toward the rafters.
On Jan. 10, when the lights dim and the banner rises, it won’t just be about numbers or even the trophy. It will be about the stubborn, undersized point guard who decided that Toronto was home — and then played like it until the franchise finally became a champion.
