The summer is almost over. Officially it ended on September 21st, but for NBA teams their summer stretches a few days further until the start of Training Camp, which for the Toronto Raptors is less than a week away. Soon, players will take the court for actual basketball games, and in less than a month the regular season will begin.
That means news will begin flowing in earnest for the team, from Media Day to player progress to actual game footage. With that fountain of happenings will of course come the return of "Raptors News" every Tuesday morning, covering the biggest developments and most interesting things to watch or read about the northernmost NBA team in the league.
We begin, therefore, with the mending of fences and the most significant news for the franchise approaching their 30th anniversary season.
Honoring Vinsanity
The Toronto Raptors announced this week that, as a part of their 30th anniversary celebration this season, Vince Carter will become the very first Toronto Raptors player to have his jersey retired and raised into the rafters at Scotiabank Arena.
In one sense, it makes perfect sense for Carter to be the first player honored in such a way. He was the team's first true superstar, a perennial All-Star and MVP candidate who made basketball matter in Canada for the very first time. He remains one of the best dunkers in NBA history and his best skywalking days were with the Raps, including his dominant Dunk Contest in 2000. His seven-game showdown with Allen Iverson in 2001 remained the most memorable Raptors playoff series until the 2019 run to the title.
On the other hand, Carter played just seven seasons with the team, the latter few being marred by injury, and he was accused of throwing games at the very end before he forced his way out in a trade that the Raptors took years to recover from. When he returned to Toronto as an opposing player he was roundly booed for years. We ranked 10 players who turned their back on the franchise earlier this year, and Carter landed at No. 1.
Many Raptors fans believe that Kyle Lowry deserves to be the first player to have his jersey retired, but he is still active and years away from being honored in such a way. In recent years time has healed wounds and Carter was cheered during the final few seasons of his career when he played in Toronto. This year, as the Raptors celebrate their 30th birthday and Vince Carter is elected into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, the time appears to be right for Carter to get the honor he is due for how he shaped basketball in Canada for an entire generation.