Drake Interrupted Kyle Lowry’s Press Conference With a FaceTime Call
He called him on his cell phone
If Wednesday night was Kyle Lowry’s final game with the Raptors, it was a memorable one.
The Raps are a mess. They’re 18–26, good for 11th place in the Eastern Conference and three games out of its final playoff spot—not to mention the reports of internal discord. Toronto isn’t a title contender, and so with the trade deadline on Thursday, it’s rumored to be interested in parting with two starters: Lowry and Norman Powell.
The Raptors snapped a nine-game losing streak with a win on Wednesday night, though, behind a stellar performance from Lowry. He recorded a modest eight points, nine assists and five rebounds, but his plus-42 net rating was the highest of his career, highest by a player this season and the second-highest in Raptors history.
Just as noteworthy, though, was what happened during his postgame press conference. Lowry was in the middle of answering questions from reporters when his phone buzzed with a FaceTime request from Toronto’s own Drake.
Drake offered to be Lowry’s “translator” but Lowry was having none of it.
It was a moment of levity during what had to be a difficult night for Lowry. Faced with the uncertainty of the trade deadline, Lowry looked glum as he walked off the court and through the tunnel after the game.
“It was kind of weird tonight not knowing what the next step would be, just with understanding there are things that could possibly be done,” he told reporters. “It was different tonight, for sure.
“I mean, who knows what’s going to happen? No one knows what’s going to happen. But it was definitely, for sure, different.”
The best of SI
Star freshmen Paige Bueckers and Caitlin Clark make the UConn-Iowa matchup in the women’s Sweet 16 a must-watch. ... Nine players to watch at the NBA trade deadline. ... The U.S. men’s national team has decided to do away with the tradition of naming a team captain. ... Just how good is Florida tight end Kyle Pitts?
Around the sports world
Patriots offensive lineman Justin Herron was one of two people who intervened to stop an attempted sexual assault in an Arizona park this week. ... The verbal altercation between Raptors coach Nick Nurse and Pascal Siakam sounds pretty ugly. ... Benito Mussolini’s great-grandson has signed a pro contract with Italian soccer club Lazio. ... Former Titans lineman Isaiah Wilson was arrested following a 140 mph car chase before he was traded to the Dolphins and subsequently released. ... UFC fighter Miesha Tate is coming out of a five-year retirement for a fight on July 17.
Coast to coast for the win!
Her postgame interviews were great, too
... for now, at least
Bills fans might be having flashbacks
Imagine if professional free agents weren’t allowed to sign with teams in their old division
Drained it
Unstoppable free kick
It’s funny how these things come to light
Disco Turkeys!
It must be so cool to be able to protect yourself from criticism with money
That’s a different kind of water hazard
Not sports
French wine experts tasted a bottle that spent more than a year orbiting Earth on the International Space Station and found it matured more quickly in zero-gravity conditions. ... A popcorn maker had to be removed from the North Dakota state capitol after it kept setting off the fire alarm.
Seems like the sign answers any questions you might have
A good song
Email dan.gartland@si.com with any feedback or follow me on Twitter for approximately one half-decent baseball joke per week. Bookmark this page to see previous editions of Hot Clicks and find the newest edition every day. By popular request I’ve made a Spotify playlist of the music featured here. Visit our Extra Mustard page throughout each day for more offbeat sports stories.
