Kyle Lowry - Doctor of Humanities ('21)


Video transcript


Biography

Kyle Lowry is a champion on and off the basketball court.

As Captain and starting Point Guard for the Toronto Raptors, Canada’s only National Basketball Association (NBA) team, Mr. Lowry has led the team to championship status. During his eight years with the Raptors so far, the team has been a playoff contender in each of the last seven seasons. In 2019, they won the NBA Championship. Mr. Lowry is widely recognized as the greatest player in the Toronto Raptors’ history.

He has been a six-time NBA All-Star, George Gross Sportsman of the Year (2014), and an Olympic Gold Medallist – US Men’s Basketball (2016).

Off the court, Mr. Lowry is a champion for the disadvantaged. He and his wife, Ayahna Cornish-Lowry, co-founded the Lowry Love Foundation in 2013. The foundation’s mission is to improve the lives of the underprivileged and disadvantaged of Philadelphia and Toronto to help them attain a better quality of life. One example of the foundation’s work is that it has provided more than 200 well-stocked Thanksgiving food hampers to Toronto families in need for the fifth straight year.

Mr. Lowry was born and raised in North Philadelphia. He studied and played basketball at Villanova University until, after his second year, he was drafted in 2006 by the Memphis Grizzlies. In 2009, he was traded to the Houston Rockets. He was traded to the Toronto Raptors before the start of the 2012–13 season, where he has remained, by choice, through contract renewals.

Although not a Canadian, he refers to Canada as his adoptive country. The Lowrys divide their time between Toronto and Philadelphia. They have two young sons.