Subscribe
Follow Us
On Monday, reports came out that the Toronto Raptors will be retiring the number 15 jersey of Vince Carter, one of the best players in the history of the franchise. Carter's jersey retirement will take place in a game against the Sacramento Kings on November 2 — a notable matchup since the team's all-time leading scorer, DeMar DeRozan, will be visiting Scotiabank Arena as a member of the opposing team.
Carter spent the first six and a half seasons of his career with the Raptors, and he immediately became one of the most iconic players in the history of the association. Earning the moniker “half-man, half-amazing”, Carter was must-see television, and he was instrumental in establishing the Raptors expansion franchise as a legitimate NBA team.
However, Vince Carter's legacy with the Raptors is very complicated. He did not exactly embrace the city of Toronto with open arms, and then he tanked his trade value during his final half season with the team to force a trade — not exactly what a player who will receive a jersey retirement wants to be known for. Thus, it's no surprise that, according to the rumor mill, some aren't pleased that Carter's jersey will be hanging on the Raptors home's rafters before that of the greatest player in franchise history — Kyle Lowry's.
“There were a lot of people in the [Raptors] organization who felt strongly and still feel strongly that Kyle Lowry's jersey should be the first that gets retired. Of course, Lowry is not retiring anytime soon. He's going into year number 19, we know Kyle enough to know he's going to want to hit 20 and then who knows after that. And then if you were going to do the Carter retirement thing, and it really seemed like that was inevitable,” TSN's Josh Lewenberg said in an appearance on Game Play.
Indeed, the complicating factor is that Kyle Lowry is still an active player, as he is currently expected to serve as the Philadelphia 76ers' backup point guard. Can the Raptors wait to retire Carter's jersey once Lowry decides to call it quits? Perhaps. But indeed, Lowry contributed more to the success of the franchise, which has been very obvious since they broke through and won the NBA championship in 2019.
Did the Raptors get it all wrong?
Vince Carter did not handle his exit from the Raptors franchise with any grace whatsoever. His stats to begin the 2004-05 season tell the story of how he forced his way out of the team and got them a meager return in the process. In 20 games to begin that campaign, he averaged just 15.9 points — a steep drop-off from the level he played in over the seasons prior.
However, upon his arrival on the New Jersey Nets, Carter immediately turned up, averaging 27.5 points, 5.9 rebounds, and 4.7 assists in 57 games with the team. Just to rub even more salt on open Raptors wounds, he starred in a playoff series upset against his former team in 2007.
But as the old adage goes, time heals all wounds, and it's closing in on 20 years since Carter tanked his trade value and engineered an exit from the Raptors franchise. There is no point in holding onto a grudge for that long. Carter certainly deserves a jersey retirement, and it's understandable if the top brass of the team did not want to wait until Kyle Lowry is done playing.
