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The Toronto Raptors will hold a press conference Tuesday morning for an “important” announcement, according to the team’s media release.
The message sent out on Monday also said a “special guest” will be present to speak to the media.
CBC News will broadcast the press conference live above.
This comes after Kyle Lowry, often referred to as Mr. Raptor and considered by many to be the greatest Raptors player of all time, hinted at retiring with the team in a cryptic video posted to his Instagram page on Monday. Multiple media reports, including SportsNet, over the past week have also speculated about his retirement from the team, claiming he will do so by signing a ceremonial one-day contract with the franchise.
In a video posted to Instagram, Lowry plays in a golf simulator as his phone blows up with messages and missed calls from former Raptors coaches and teammates such as Fred VanVleet, Vince Carter and Pascal Siakam. Some messages say “congratulations” and others say “is this true?” and “don’t make me find out, man.”
Lowry then gets a call from best friend and former teammate DeMar DeRozan and answers the call before the video cuts out. Lowry and DeRozan played together for six years in Toronto.
The date of Tuesday’s press conference also coincides with Lowry’s iconic jersey number while wearing No. 7 for the Raptors.
The 40-year-old point guard left the Raptors in 2021 after being traded to the Miami Heat. He played nine seasons for Toronto and helped the team win the first NBA championship in franchise history in 2019.
Lowry spent his last two seasons with the Philadelphia 76ers.
During his time with the Raptors, he averaged 17.5 points, 7.1 assists and 4.9 rebounds in 601 regular season games.