Was Vince Carter at his best when with the Toronto Raptors?

Individual success with the Toronto Raptors

While Carter didn’t have the same postseason success with the Raptors that he did elsewhere in his career, a lot of that could be probably put down to the relative infancy of the franchise. Carter was drafted by the Raptors heading into only their fourth-ever season in a market where basketball just wasn’t on the agenda.

In Carter’s seven seasons with the team, he only made it to the postseason three times – those efforts being the Raptors first forays into postseason action since the franchise’s inception. He was the leader of the team, even at such a young age. This was Vince Carter’s team.

That showed on the court. In his second season in Toronto – at the age of 23 – Carter was named to the 2000 All-NBA Third Team after averaging 25.7 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 3.9 assists per game. He was already taking 20 shots per game and led the Raptors to their first-ever trip to the playoffs.

The journey was short-lived as the team was swept in three games by the New York Knicks, with Carter averaging 19.3 points per game while shooting just 30-percent from the field but it was a taste of winning, regardless. Carter and Tracy McGrady had carried the team to the great beyond.

McGrady left the Raptors to join the Orlando Magic in 2000, but Carter would carry the team on his back again – this time, the Raptors won a the franchise-record 47 games and progressed to the Eastern Conference Semi-Finals. His performances in the regular season earned him a place on the All-NBA Second Team and Carter was named as an All-Star once again.

He was the star in Toronto for seven seasons, even once the trips to the playoffs stopped. A Slam Dunk Champion, Rookie of the Year and five-time All-Star, where was Carter at his best?