This story is going to make you love Kyle Lowry, and if you’re a Raptors fan, you might want to send a letter of approval to GM Masai Ujiri, so he doesn’t deal the point guard before the February deadline — as has been hinted in the past. Lowry tracked down a Raptors fan who missed out on his sneakers while the Raps were in Chicago, and surprised him before a home game with his own pair on Monday night.
Perhaps you didn’t hear about the Chicago denizen who intercepted Kyle Lowry when he threw his sneakers to Raptors fan Alan Vale during Toronto’s recent visit to Chicago. Vale tells Raptors.com:
“I think I yelled at him ‘I came from Toronto and you played a great game, that was awesome,’ just kind of non-nonchalantly,” said Vale. “He turned around and started to untie his shoe and I was thinking ‘is this really happening right now?'”
Unfortunately, someone else clearly understood what was happening and wound up with the equivalent of two “pick sixes” at Soldier Field. But thanks to a little sleuthing on social media, Lowry was told about the incident and decided to make it right before the Raptors game against the Bucks on Monday.
Here are the “pick sixes” from a greedy, but sly, Chi-town sneakerhead.
After missing out on the sneakers in Chicago, Vale and a friend were invited to take in pre-game warmups court-side on Monday night in Toronto. He was escorted to the players lounge for what he was told was an interview, but Lowry arrived as a surprise to deliver a pair of his own kicks in person.
“Blown away,” was how Vale described his response to Lowry’s gesture. “We’re in the middle of an interview and then all of a sudden, there’s the starting point guard for the Toronto Raptors.
“I was not expecting that. Absolutely not. I was pretty blown away just to be sitting courtside and watching the shootaround. This is definitely one of the highlights of my being a Raptors fan.”
This story warms our heart, and we couldn’t be happier for Vale.
What do you think of Lowry’s gesture?
Follow Spencer on Twitter at @countcenci.
Follow Dime on Twitter at @DimeMag.
Become a fan of Dime Magazine on Facebook HERE.