Kyle Lowry had a disappointing debut season with the Miami Heat in 2021-22. The nearly 36-year-old guard was a hot commodity in last season’s free agency pool, but he chose to engineer a move to the Miami Heat to join Jimmy Butler. However, this season has been riddled with injuries and disappointments for Lowry.
Lowry struggled to stay in shape through the season because of his inconsistent injuries and it showed in the playoffs. Lowry was sluggish and continued to be injury-prone. He was basically unable to contribute as all of this took a toll and Jimmy Butler was left without a certified co-star to help Miami overcome Boston.
Miami Heat President Pat Riley did an open media scrum where he called out some of his players with general words of encouragement, but he delivered it in typical Heat fashion and called out his players to perform better next season. He said the Heat will definitely address Lowry’s conditioning.
Pat Riley on Kyle Lowry’s conditioning:
“The bottom line with me and for me as far as hoping you can get the most out of a player…is that you have to be in world class shape, you just have to be.”
“He’s definitely gonna have to address that and it will be addressed.”
— Brady Hawk (@BradyHawk305) June 6, 2022
Considering what the Heat value in their stars, it isn’t surprising to see Riley call out Lowry in the way that he did. Even if Lowry is one of the oldest guards in the league, he is expected to put in the same work all his teammates put in.
This off-season will be a crucial one for Lowry as he will look to live up to Riley’s expectations. The Heat gave the guard a sizable contract when he left the Toronto Raptors last season to join them, but it seems Miami may have jumped the gun by tying up big money long-term on Lowry.
To make the investment worth it, Lowry needs to prove to Riley that he will respond to the President’s open challenge and come into the 2022-23 season as a much fitter player. Otherwise, we may have to start looking for alternatives for Miami at PG.
