Raptors Managing Kyle Lowry's Load To Star Pre-Season

The Toronto Raptors are giving Kyle Lowry a few days off to manage his load heading into the season

There's nothing Kyle Lowry needs to prove this pre-season.

After 15 NBA seasons — eight with the Toronto Raptors — the 34-year-old Lowry has earned some time off before the start of the season. It's why he'll be away from the team in Tampa for the first two pre-season games in Charlotte, Raptors coach Nick Nurse said Saturday.

"It's basically for load management," Nurse said.

Lowry is coming off a 2019-20 campaign in which he averaged 19.4 points in 36.2 minutes per game last season. He played in 58 of Toronto's 72 regular season games before leading the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.

Now, after a truncated, three-month offseason, the Raptors are comfortable taking it slow with their franchise star.

"He's in fantastic shape, maybe as good as I've seen him, especially at a start maybe like this," Nurse said. "He really looks great condition wise. No worry with him.

"It's more preserving those guys that are in their 30s-plus."

Lowry missed the first three games of the pre-season last season.