There was a time, after Vince Carter asked for a trade and was sent to New Jersey in 2004, that this day seemed like it would never come. But here we are.
The Toronto Raptors will retire the No. 15 jersey of Hall of Famer Vince Carter during a ceremony on Nov. 2, when the Raptors host the Kings, a story broken by Josh Lewenberg of TSN (the club has yet to confirm it officially). Carter will be the first player jersey retirement by the Raptors.
The Brooklyn Nets also will retire Carter’s jersey this season.
Carter made basketball cool in Canada and exploded the popularity of the sport. He was drafted fifth overall by the Raptors in 1998 and went on to win the Rookie of the Year Award. He would become a Raptors legend, a five-time All-Star who led Toronto to its first playoffs and first playoffs series win in his six-and-a-half with the club. He was the Raptors’ first true star, averaging 23.4 points, 5.2 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game in his six-and-a-half years with the club.
More iconically, he won the 2000 All-Star Dunk Contest while with Toronto.
However, things did not end well with Carter in Toronto. While battling injuries and having conflicts with the club, he demanded a trade and eventually was sent to New Jersey in what was a terrible trade for Toronto. For years after that, boos would rain down on Carter when he returned to the city.
While that relationship with the fans healed, making Carter the first Raptor with his jersey retired proved controversial, even within the Raptors organization, Lewenberg reports.
There were high-ranking members of the organization who maintained that Kyle Lowry should be the first to receive the honour, having spent nearly a decade with the club, been the face of its most successful era, and led it to a championship.
However, Lowry is still playing and may be for a handful more years, and with Carter entering the Hall of Fame this year the Raptors decided to go with their first star to be the first retired jersey. (Lowry deserves a statue, he is the greatest Raptor ever.)
Carter went on to play a record 22 NBA seasons, the longest career in league history (although LeBron James will tie that record this fall), doing so with eight NBA teams and evolving from a superstar to a respected role player in his later years. Now, he is going back to be honored where it all started.
