Philadelphia 76ers guard Kyle Lowry lives his dream playing in his hometown —

On, Nov. 1, 1996, a 10-year-old kid walked into CoreStates Center in amazement just like all the other intrigued and excited Philadelphia 76ers fans. Scalped tickets from a family friend not only got the North Philadelphian into the first game at the Sixers’ new arena but, more importantly, the debut of heralded rookie Allen Iverson.

The Milwaukee Bucks spoiled the night by defeating the Sixers 111-103 despite 30 points and six assists from Iverson. Seeing Iverson dominate among NBA giants at just 6 feet allowed the kid to dream bigger about playing in the NBA.

Now, 28 years later, Kyle Lowry is playing in that same arena as a Sixer.

“I had a guy, Robert Taylor. A good dude. He used to get us some scalped tickets,” Lowry told Andscape in March. “I have the coin still. It’s probably in my mom’s house somewhere now with some other stuff. But they gave out that commemorative coin for the opening of what now is the Wells Fargo Center.

“I was an awe of a guy [Iverson] that was that that small [dominating]. And I didn’t know he was tall at that time because I was little kid. But seeing him being able to do the things that he was able to do opening night and just go out there with Stack [Jerry Stackhouse], it was crazy. It was good for me. It was fun to watch.”

Tuesday night, Lowry and his Sixers hope to keep their season alive in Game 5 of their first-round series against the host New York Knicks. The Knicks have a 3-1 lead in the best-of-seven series.

Time will tell if it is also Lowry’s last game with the Sixers. The former Villanova University star averaged 8.1 points, 4.2 assists and 3.2 rebounds for the Sixers this season after signing as a free agent for the rest of the season for $2.8 million on Feb. 14. Lowry rejoined his old Toronto Raptors coach Nick Nurse, who he won an NBA championship with in 2019.

The following is a Q&A with Lowry, who talks about what it means to be wear a Sixers jersey, how he was able to get his beloved No. 7 from teammate Mo Bamba, mentoring NBA All-Star teammate Tyrese Maxey, the impact Sixers star Joel Embiid can have if healthy, what it means to be the NBA’s fourth-oldest player and much more.

Is playing at home the last box you needed to check in your NBA career?

This was a box I never thought I would check. I always wanted to, but I never thought it would happen. And as you get older you’re like, ‘Oh…’ I said no when I was younger. I wanted to do it a couple years ago when I was still kind of in my prime and I had the opportunity to go back. But Toronto was the situation for me. So, I [re-signed] back to Toronto and it [going to Philadelphia] just didn’t work out. But I…