Former Heat guard Goran Dragic wears No. 1 in Toronto Out of Respect for Kyle Lowry

Goran Dragic refuses to wear No. 7 with Raptors because of Lowry
Former Heat guard Goran Dragic wears No. 1 in Toronto Out of Respect for Kyle Lowry
Former Heat guard Goran Dragic wears No. 1 in Toronto Out of Respect for Kyle Lowry /

For six and a half seasons, guard Goran Dragic wore the No. 7 with the Miami Heat. 

He was traded to the Toronto Raptors in the offseason and had every opportunity to continue wearing the number. But Dragic said no out of respect for Raptors guard Kyle Lowry, the player he was trade for. 

"I've been in this league for quite a while and I know that Kyle, he brought a championship to this organization," Dragic during the Raptors' media day Monday. "So I do believe that probably his jersey is going to be in the rafters."

Lowry's number will definitely be retired at some point. He will become the first retired in the organization, ahead of Raptors greats Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady and Chris Bosh. 

Instead, Dragic returned to the No. 1, the jersey he wore his second run with the Phoenix Suns. The decision not to pursue No. 7 followed an earlier nice gesture by Dragic. 

Shortly after the trade, Lowry phoned Dragic to ask if it was OK to wear No. 7 in Miami. Even though Dragic's approval wasn't required, he obliged. 

"It was nothing," Dragic said. "He asked me for the number I said, 'Yeah, no problem, you’re my guy. You know he won a championship and everything so he deserved it. So I'm happy that he can wear number seven in Miami."

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Shandel Richardson
SHANDEL RICHARDSON

Shandel has covered the NBA since 2010, with previous stops at The Athletic and South Florida Sun-Sentinel.  He has covered six NBA Finals, one Super Bowl, the NCAA basketball tournament. He has also been a beat writer for the Miami Hurricanes and contributed on every major beat in South Florida since 2003, including the Miami Dolphins and Miami Marlins. He can also be read in the Sportsbook Review for gambling coverage from around the NBA. A native of Bloomington, Illinois, Shandel attended Southern Illinois University in Carbondale. He's also worked for the St. Louis Post-Dispatch and Kansas City Star.  TWITTER: @ShandelRich EMAIL: shandelrich@gmail.com You can subscribe to our YouTube channel here Follow all of our Miami Heat coverage on Facebook here