Lowry shrugs off Riley’s comment about needing to be in better shape: ‘He has his opinion’

Kyle Lowry on Monday shrugged off Heat president Pat Riley’s comments that he needs to be in better shape, saying his conditioning as he ages is not an issue.

“I didn’t even hear the comments,” Lowry said Monday of Riley’s public challenge in June. “Someone else told me about ‘em.”

And what did he think about those comments?

“It’s whatever. Honestly, he has his opinion. Right? Everyone has their opinion and it doesn’t do anything for me. All I do is motivate myself, I always motivate myself.”

So is he back at the same weight and body fat, something that was impossible to tell with Lowry in a T-shirt?

“I don’t even know,” Lowry, the 36-year-old point guard said. “I’m just working and grinding. We’ll see what happens.”

Lowry answered the conditioning questions politely but generally had no use for them. Asked if that’s important as he gets older, he said: “That’s not a problem. That’s not a problem at all.”

He made clear that he didn’t do anything different this offseason: “No. I spent my summer doing everything I usually do every single summer. I don’t change what I do. I go out there and create my own environment and come back and do my jobs at the highest level.”

Asked if it’s a challenge to play for a franchise that does weigh-ins more frequently than others, he said: “It is what it is. It’s life. It’s life.”

Lowry,who missed 13 games last season because of a family matter, said the situation remains unresolved, and he wasn’t sure if he will need to miss games this season.

“I’m always going to be attentive to it. It’s life and as you deal with things like that sometimes certain things take a back seat. For me it’s about growing and continue to stay focused on what I have to do to help this team get to that end goal, which is to get another banner.”

Might he need to miss more games this season because of the family issue?

“We’ll see. We’ll see,” he answered.

He acknowledged that because of that family issue, “I missed a lot of time last year. I wasn’t able to be me. It was simple as that I definitely wasn’t able to be myself because I missed myself. That wasn’t because of injury. It was a personal reason. This is a new year.”

Here’s what Riley said after last season when he challenged Lowry to “be in better shape next year:

“Kyle had a challenging year for a lot of reasons and I don’t have to get into them. They were personal and there were other things. But he had a challenging year with the move and everything. Earlier in the season, he had some injuries and missed some time and there were some personal issues.

“But the bottom line with me and for me as far as hoping that you can get the most out of a player, I don’t have to go back and talk about it, is that you got to be in world-class shape. You just have to be.

“He’s not Tyler Herro. He’s not that lean kind of guy. But I think he can be in better shape, and I do believe that the pain of losing and the reminders that you send out about this might change his mind a little bit. But I do think that he can be in better shape next year.”

Lowry addressed other issues:

▪ On his comment at the end of the season was a waste of a year because the Heat didn’t win a championship: “ I still feel the same way I felt when I spoke. We only play for championships. We had a great year but if it didn’t result in championships for me, I feel the same way.”

▪ On him possibly playing off the ball more: “You want teams that adjust to you. The league is always going to change. So you go big, small, guard, forwards, you always adapt and adjust. So you have to be ready to flow as a team in any situations.”

▪ On his second season with the Heat: “It’ll be a lot different. It’ll be a lot smoother transition. It’ll be a lot easier this time, just go, to be able to flow a little bit more. Last year was kind of choppy up and down. Now I’m more settled down more, I know where everything is, so it’ll be a lot easier.”

▪ On the Heat replacing P.J. Tucker: “I don’t think you ask anybody to do what another man does. Every individual is different. I think we have an opportunity to have guys step up and change their roles a bit and kind of adapt to a different role than they were in before.

“But I don’t think you can try to make another P.J. because there is only one P.J. We’re not trying to replace we’re trying to have another guy step up.”

Riley’s comments followed a disappointing postseason for Lowry, when he strained his left hamstring in Game 3 of the first-round series, forcing him to sit out eight playoff games.

He played two games against Philadelphia but struggled (shooting 3 for 14), and wasn’t any better when he returned for good in Game 3 the Eastern Conference finals against Boston, averaged 9.4 points on 28.6 percent shooting from the field and 26.7 percent shooting on threes, with 21 assists and 11 turnovers. The hamstring clearly limited him.

After spending the previous nine seasons with the Raptors, Lowry averaged 13.4 points while shooting 44 percent from the field and 37.7 percent on threes, 4.5 rebounds, 7.5 assists and 1.1 steals last regular season. The Heat was also 2.5 points per 100 possessions better when Lowry was on the court.

He took just 10 shots per game, down from 13.0 in his final year in Toronto and his lowest total since 2012-13.

Might he shoot more this season? “We’ll see. Last year was kind of an adjustment year. This year I will do what’s necessary to be more successful.

“Who knows what that’s going to entail. We’re literally at media day. My first day back since the season ended. We will see once we get on court tomorrow and adapt and adjustments are made.”