The Raptors just advanced to their first conference finals in franchise history, and Kyle Lowry is excited to face LeBron James and the Cavaliers.
Lowry in his on-court post-game interview:
Stephen Curry just won MVP unanimously. Even LeBron said Curry deserved it.
Are we really going to do this?
Yup.
There is no shortage of people who view Lowry’s comments as disrespectful to LeBron.
LeBron preemptively stoked the flames by bringing up differing definitions of valuable. And LeBron’s on-court value has clearly increased in the playoffs. There’s something to the idea that, when LeBron puts his mind to it, he’s still the best basketball player in the world.
But Curry has outplayed LeBron the last two seasons and is three years younger. Maybe Curry is just better now. At minimum, he has shown he can play better over the the largest samples.
Lowry’s “probably one of the” is drawing criticism, too. There’s no doubt LeBron is one of the best players in the league besides Steph. LeBron might not be the best anymore – Kawhi Leonard, Kevin Durant and Russell Westbrook are in the running – but none of those four is clearly better than the rest. Lowry’s wordiness is just that – not intended disrespect.
Now, LeBron could take it another way and use the statement as motivation. That’s his prerogative.
Even if he doesn’t, he already has many fans who’ve already vilified Lowry on his behalf.