“I struggled to prove that I belonged. My first couple years in the NBA, my fear was that I was going to go to the D-League – and maybe never get back to the NBA. I was picked 24th and that’s not the cushion that a lottery pick gets in the NBA. You get a few chances, and then you’re done. Then you’re just a label, never to be a frontline guy.
But I didn’t want to be a backup. I hated that label. I did not want to be a backup in this league. I wasn’t going to settle for it, and I think it rubbed people the wrong way. But I didn’t want to be labeled as a journeyman, or a guy who has the talent, but just can’t get it together. I wanted the label of a guy who’s a winner. That’s the most important label you can have in this league.”
-Raptors guard Kyle Lowry on what he had to prove this season in leading the Raptors renaissance (h/t Adrian Wojnarowski of Yahoo! Sports)
