Whether you were at Scotiabank Arena or watching from home, there wasn't a dry eye watching the Toronto Raptors honor Vince Carter. A Raptors legend and basketball Hall of Famer, Carter saw his No. 15 raised into the rafters, the first jersey retired by the franchise in 30 years. Numerous NBA legends paid their respects to Carter, including Hall of Fame forward Paul Pierce, who had plenty of divisional battles with Carter while Pierce played for the Boston Celtics.
“Congrats To Vince Carter was truly a joy to watch and play against no.15 gave me nightmares salute 🫡,” said Pierce in a post to X, formerly Twitter. “Class of 95 high school class best ever 😳😳😳.”
Known lovingly as “Half Man, Half Amazing,” Carter and the Raptors would routinely battle for the Atlantic Division crown and playoff positioning against Pierce and the Celtics.
The history of Paul Pierce and the Celtics versus Vince Carter and the Raptors
Both were selected in the 1998 NBA Draft; the Golden State Warriors chose Carter and immediately traded to Toronto, while Pierce went to Boston with the No. 10 pick. From there, both forwards would bring their franchises into the spotlight. By the 2001-02 season, Carter and Pierce had led their teams to the playoffs, with both sides battling for Eastern Conference supremacy.
Against Pierce, Carter owns a 28-29 regular season record in his career and went 2-4 in the playoffs. In that stretch, Carter averaged 19.8 points, 4.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists, and plenty of high-flying dunks. Pierce, meanwhile, averaged 19.3 points, 5.3 rebounds and 3.5 assists against Carter. It's uncanny that their stats were almost identical, driving home Pierce's point about the 1995 high school class.
Pierce would win a title with the Celtics, something Carter never accomplished with the Raptors. But like their head-to-head statistics, their accolades are eerily similar. Carter was an eight-time All-Star and earned All-NBA honors twice in his career. Pierce, meanwhile, was a ten-time All-Star and earned All-NBA honors four times. Carter won Rookie of the Year in 1999.
Meanwhile, Pierce finished third in the award. However, both forwards were first-team All-Rookie that year. Once again, that drives home how similar their careers were.
Finally, what matters most is that Carter's No. 15 is retired by the Raptors, the team he began his career with. This matches Pierce's getting his No. 34 retired by the Celtics, where Pierce started his illustrious career. Pierce's nightmare is over. Now, he and Carter can stand high as two of the most incredible forwards ever.
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