Vince Carter‘s iconic number 15 jersey will be the first in Toronto Raptors history to be hung from the rafters. As reported by Josh Lewenberg of TSN Sport, Vince Carter will have his number put up into the rafters of the Scotiabank Arena in Toronto on November 2nd, ahead of the Raptors’ game against the Kings.
This will mark a full circle moment in the long and arduous basketball journey of Vince Carter. Drafted in 1998 to a new and underwhelming Raptors franchise, Carter quickly rose to prominence with the team as their star player, with his big break coming when he stole the show in the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest.
Carter became a regular All-Star for the franchise and took them to their first playoff series in franchise history. But sadly, things didn’t end well between the two sides, as Carter would demand, and be granted a trade to the New Jersey Nets. Since Carter’s departure from the franchise in 2004, the relationship between him and Raptors fanbase had been tenuous at best.
Vince Carter would be booed regularly for years whenever he played against the Raptors. While the Raptors organization was doing well for themselves, having built around emergent All-Stars like Chris Bosh, and then DeMar DeRozan, the betrayal of Vince Carter stung really badly for them.
While Carter has maintained that he handled everything the right way in the exit, the fans did feel as though he quit on them long before he was actually moved to the Nets.
Carter’s Jersey Retirement A Long Time Coming
Luckily, as time went on, the two sides seemed to mend fences, albeit quietly. With neither side fully issuing an apology or any admission of guilt, the relationship between the two became much better, with the Raptors organization even giving Carter the tribute video treatment during one of his latter-day returns to the city.
The decision to retire Vince Carter’s jersey, at least for the Toronto Raptors, is one that has been in the works for quite some time now. There were rumblings earlier this year that the Raptors would retire his jersey ahead of one of their closing regular season games, but that never came to pass.
Carter and the Raptors may disagree on the nature of his exit, but there is no denying how important he was in making the franchise must-watch. Carter took the Raptors from an early expansion team to a regular playoff contender in less than 10 years and did it in the most sensational way possible.
On top of that, it was just great from a timing standpoint, as it coincides with Vince Carter being inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this year, and comes nearly 25 years from Carter’s iconic dunk contest performance.
It is great to see the Raptors, along with the Nets who are also retiring his jersey, honor a player that meant so much to their fanbase. Needless to say, every Toronto Raptors fan will have eyes on the Vince Carter jersey retirement ceremony.
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