Kyle Lowry’s blunt take on NBA future amid retirement speculation

PHILADELPHIA — Despite turning 39 years old at the end of March, Kyle Lowry isn’t ready to call it quits on his NBA career. The Philadelphia 76ers guard wants to run it back one more time with his hometown team.

Lowry recently waxed poetic about the game after his return from injury, speaking as someone who doesn’t have much more time left in the NBA. Although that’s true, he doesn’t want to walk away just yet.

“I do want to play one more year at a level where I can compete and play and help a team, even if I’m not playing, I’m just here, or if I am playing,” he said. “But I still want to play one more year and hopefully, it’s here.”

Kyle Lowry looking to continue NBA career after age-38 season 

Small guards like Lowry typically don’t play at such an old age, though most of them aren’t as strong, smart and skilled as he is. He’s certainly far from the All-Star he once was but in a league that still values having a highly experienced player to serve as a leader, he should have some interest this offseason.

This season, Lowry played just 35 games due to a nagging hip injury. If he is to stick around with the Sixers or find a new NBA home, he’ll have to prove he can stay healthy. He’s eager to make it back to the court and ride off into the NBA sunset in a winning situation.

“For me, it’s just continue to keep the mind and the body as sharp as possible,” he said. “Being a part of this season showed you I want to at least go out winning. Today, we’ve known we were gonna not make the playoffs and this and that. But I think I walked in the building today, it was kind of a little bit sad because we all thought that we would be playing a little bit longer and we thought we had a good team and on paper. But you still gotta put it down on the floor.”

This isn’t a season Lowry wants to remember — and he’s far from alone. If he gets it his way, he’ll be back with the 76ers for one more season on a squad that gets back on track. Of course, whenever he does officially retire, it’ll be as a Toronto Raptor.