TORONTO – NBA Hall of Famer Vince Carter has had a complicated history with the Toronto Raptors, starting as the superstar who put the team on the map before becoming public enemy No. 1 and then finally mending fences with the team post-retirement.
Here is a timeline look at Carter’s key moments, both with and against the Raptors, as he becomes the first player in franchise history to have his jersey sent to the rafters.
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June 24, 1998 — Carter is selected fifth overall out of North Carolina by the Golden State Warriors at the NBA draft in Vancouver. Soon after, he is traded to Toronto for fourth-overall pick Antawn Jamison.
Feb. 5, 1999 — Carter starts in his NBA regular-season debut as the league returns from a lockout. He scores 16 points to go with three rebounds, two assists, two steals and a block in a 103-92 road win over the Boston Celtics.
March 25, 1999 — Carter scores a season-high 32 points in a 113-104 loss at Houston.
May 26, 1999 — Carter is named the NBA’s rookie of the year after averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, three assists, 1.1 steals and 1.5 blocks over 50 games.
Feb. 12, 2000 — Carter wins the NBA slam dunk competition in Oakland, Calif. He clinched the title with a 360-degree windmill jam, famously mouthing “it’s over” to the camera after completing the dunk. The next day he makes his first all-star game appearance after receiving a league-high 1,911,973 votes in a fan ballot.
Feb. 27, 2000 — Carter scores a career-high 51 points in a 103-102 win over visiting Phoenix.
April 23, 2000 — Carter makes his debut playoff appearance as the Raptors advance to the post-season for the first time in franchise history. He is held to 16 points as the Raptors fall 92-88 to the New York Knicks at Madison Square Garden. New York would go on to sweep the best-of-five series, with Carter scoring 27 points in Game 2 but struggling with 15 in the clinching game in Toronto.
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May 4, 2001 — The Raptors win their first-ever playoff series, beating the New York Knicks 93-89 in a deciding Game 5 at Madison Square Garden. Carter has a team-high 27 points in the win.
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May 11, 2001 — Carter scores 50 points as the Raptors beat the Philadelphia 76ers 102-78 and take a 2-1 lead in their second-round series.
May 20, 2001 — Philadelphia wins the series by edging Toronto in the decisive seventh game. Carter, who had 20 points and nine assists in the game, missed a 19-foot jump shot at the buzzer. He faces criticism for attending his graduation at North Carolina the morning of the pivotal game in Philadelphia.
Aug. 1, 2001 — Carter signs a six-year extension with the Raptors reported to be worth as much as US$94 million. Mel Lastman., Toronto’s mayor at the time, declares the day as “Vince Carter Day.” The move was seen as the crown jewel of a big off-season for general manager Glen Grunwald, who also re-signed key players Alvin Williams, Antonio Davis and Jerome Williams and added aging star centre Hakeem Olajuwon.
March 19, 2002 — Carter is held to 10 points in his last game of the season as the Raptors are thumped 112-80 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. Carter, who had been battling a left knee injury all season, undergoes season-ending surgery eight days later. The Raptors fall to 30-38, below the playoff mark at 11th place in the Eastern Conference, with the loss to the Timberwolves. But the team battles back without Carter, winning 12 of its last 14 games to make the playoffs before pushing the heavily favoured Detroit Pistons to a deciding fifth game in the opening round of the playoffs.
Dec. 17, 2004 — After two seasons of missing the playoffs and amid significant changes in the organization, the Raptors trade the disgruntled Carter to the New Jersey Nets 20 games into the 2004-05 campaign. Hurt feelings in Toronto that Carter “quit” on the team before getting traded — he was averaging a pedestrian 15.9 points per game before the deal — are compounded by the lacklustre return general manager Rob Babcock gets from the Nets. Toronto receives aging centre Alonzo Mourning, journeymen Aaron Williams and Eric Williams and two first-round draft picks. Mourning, the biggest name coming back to Toronto, doesn’t report to the Raptors and is bought out. He later joins Miami for the league-minimum salary and helps the Heat win a title the following season.
April 15, 2005 — Carter makes his return to Toronto for the first time since the trade. The crowd at Air Canada Centre boos him mercilessly, with some fans holding up signs mocking his injuries. One even brings crutches. Carter gets the last laugh, scoring 39 points in a 101-90 Nets win.
Jan. 8, 2006 — Carter silences the ACC crowd again by scoring 42 points, including a fadeaway three-pointer at the buzzer, as the Nets stun the Raptors 105-104.
April 21, 2007 — The Raptors return to the playoffs for the first time since the Carter era, only to run into Carter and the Nets in the first round. The Nets upset the Raptors 96-91 in the first game of the series, adding insult to injury by wearing their alternate red uniforms to match the red T-shirts given away to Toronto fans before the game. Carter goes on to average 25 points in the series as the sixth-seed Nets bounce the third-seed Raptors in six games.
Nov. 19, 2014 — Carter returns to Toronto as a member of the Memphis Grizzlies. As part of the Raptors’ 20th anniversary celebration, a video montage of Carter’s highlights with the team is played during the game. The fans at the ACC give Carter a standing ovation, and, with tears in his eyes, he acknowledges the crowd.
March 11, 2020 — Carter scores five points, including a late three-pointer, as his Atlanta Hawks lose 136-131 to the New York Knicks. It’s the last NBA game he ever plays in, as the season is suspended after the game due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Carter ends his career at age 43 as the only NBA player to compete in four different decades.
April 6, 2024 — Carter is named as one of 13 inductees making up the Basketball Hall of Fame’s class of 2024.
Sept. 27, 2024 — The Raptors announce that they will retire Carter’s No. 15, making him the first player in franchise history to receive the honour.
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Sept. 27, 2024.
© 2024 The Canadian Press