Raptors Honor Vince Carter By Raising His Number In The Rafters

TORONTO, ON - NOVEMBER 2: Vince Carter, a former player of the Toronto Raptors, watches as a banner ... [+] is raised with the number 15 during his jersey retirement ceremony at half time in the game between the Toronto Raptors and the Sacramento Kings at the Scotiabank Arena on November 2, 2024 in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. (Photo by Mark Blinch/Getty Images)

Depending on who you ask, this day had been coming for a while. While the relationship between the Toronto Raptors and Vince Carter in the last 20 years can best be described as a rollercoaster, enough time has passed to embrace, celebrate and honor the franchise’s first ever superstar.

And tonight, the whole city celebrated.

To cap off a month of anticipation and as part of the Raptors 30th anniversary, the organization hoisted up Carter’s number 15 to the rafters at halftime of the Raptors-Kings game on Saturday night. Every fan in the arena was gifted a Carter poster, and the stands were decorated with a commemorative number 15 logo. The Raptors dawned their throwback purple uniforms: a perfect little ode to Carter’s time repping the same colors.

“I feel like my emotions speak louder than words,” Carter said during his pre-game press conference with media in Toronto. He was overcome with emotion throughout, shedding tears anytime he spoke of his time with the Raptors and the thought of his number being the first to go up in Scotiabank Arena. “It tells a story. It's this appreciation for where we were, where we were getting to, where we are now, and now you wrap that up with a bow.”

Still, given the history, the highs and lows, Carter wasn’t sure what to expect.

“Let’s all live in the moment,” he said.

And then the moment came, and we did.

The crowd roared as the halftime horn sounded off. All 19,000+ knew exactly what was going to happen. The event staff set up within minutes (it had actually been hours, nay, months, of preparation for this moment). The arena went dark. Purple lights flickered. Raptors play-by-play announcer Matt Devlin introduced Carter, who walked onto the court to a standing ovation, overcome with emotions.

Surrounded by his friends, his family, his former teammates, and members of the Raptors organization, Vince took the podium to speak to the fans:

“The memories, no matter how you view them, go up tonight.”

Earlier on in the day, he expressed understanding for fans who still might be on the fence about how things ended and his patience in mending ties:

“I'm going to continue to be patient. Someone told me a long time ago, ‘if you have an appreciation for something, love something, and if people don't see it. Be patient,” Carter said.

Fast-forward to halftime, that patience paid off quickly. And if it still didn’t resonate, Raptors President of Basketball Operations, Masai Ujiri, made sure to remind everyone.

“He is a legend. He is an icon. He’s half man, half amazing. He is the Vince Carter effect. He helped us put Toronto on the map. He taught us how to fly,” Ujiri told the crowd. His speech was followed by a tribute video that included Steph Curry, Kyle Lowry, DeMar DeRozan, Canadian Tristan Thompson, and others for his contributions to the game of basketball in the country.

At this point, it’s beyond obvious. The whole basketball world knows what the Vince Carter effect is.

“It makes all the sense in the world,” said LeBron James the night before while his Los Angeles Lakers were in town. “With what he's done for this franchise, the impact that he had in this community, the way he changed how basketball is looked at in Canada itself, obviously (in) Toronto. Well-deserved.”

“I think anybody who you know came of age in the late 90s, early 2000s as they look back on that version of this with just a high level of fondness,” said James’s Head Coach JJ Redick, who played with Carter on the Orlando Magic in the late 2000s. “I was a fan, despite the fact that he went to UNC, and then we, we got to be teammates for a year and change, and just all around. Great dude. Very deserving.”

“He's just a great human being,” said Kings Head Coach Mike Brown. “An explosive player that was a lot of fun for not only myself to watch, but obviously the fans out there. I'm excited that Toronto is having a special night.”

Still, today wasn’t a foregone conclusion. After 10 years of boos, ‘VC SUCKS’ chants, and much, much more, the moment that helped turn the corner between Carter and the city of Toronto was when he was honored while playing for the Grizzlies in 2014.

“It's something about seeing those highlights In this building,” Carter said about that moment 10 years ago. “Because that's where it was created. I was in my bubble. To hear the cheers, it could have been an arena of booze, and I would have still had the same feeling, honestly, because I'd never gotten that opportunity to see a video in this building.”

And now, 10 years later, the Raptors make the honor permanent: a beautiful banner with Carter’s number and the iconic photo of his through-the-legs dunk at the 2000 All-Star Dunk Contest.

The Raptors themselves added to the celebrations by beating the Kings in an OT thriller 131-128. Canadians RJ Barrett and Chris Boucher combined for 55 points, and Boucher did Carter’s iconic rev-up celebration after a three-point shot.

For a young Raptors team that is still in year 1 of its rebuilding process, being a part of a night where the organization celebrated one of the greatest players to represent the city, it was an important moment.

“He was always my example when I was talking to young players about how the league is evolving,” said Raptors Head Coach Darko Rajakovic. “As the league is evolving, you need to evolve this rough, and he is an amazing example of that.”

Vince Carter is an example for the Raptors, Canada, and for anyone who loves the game of basketball.

#15 forever.