...it's
just time for me to look after me.Vince Carter tells the Toronto Star he wants to
be traded out of Toronto (Sept. 16, 2004)
VINCE'S VITALS
Team: Toronto Raptors NBA seasons: seven Born: Jan. 26, 1977
Daytona Beach, Fla. College: North Carolina Draft: First round (fifth overall), 1998 Five-time NBA all-star 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year
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INDEPTH: VINCE CARTERVince
Carter and the Raptors: 15 memorable moments
CBC
Sports Online | Dec. 17, 2004
Vince Carter was the face of Toronto basketball
for more than six seasons. His scoring touch and dunking prowess earned
him awards, all-star honours and fans all over the world.
Despite his soaring popularity, Carter's tenure in Toronto wasn't
always smooth. He earned a reputation as a fragile player after suffering
a series of knee and hamstring injuries.
Things turned sour in the summer of 2004 when Carter requested a trade.
He was reportedly unhappy with the struggling Raptors' direction and
with not being consulted in the summertime hiring of general manager
Rob Babcock and head coach Sam Mitchell.
Carter's wish was granted on Dec. 17, 2004, when he was dealt to the
New Jersey Nets.
CBC Sports Online looks at 15 memorable moments from Carter's time
with the Raptors.
1. Draft-day deal sends
Carter north – June 24, 1998
The Vince Carter era began in Toronto courtesy
of a pre-arranged draft-day swap with the Golden State Warriors. The
Raptors ship fourth-overall pick Antawn Jamison's draft rights to
Golden State in exchange for No. 5 selection Carter – Jamison's
University of North Carolina teammate.
The 2000 all-star
weekend in Oakland, Calif., provided the backdrop for Carter's coming
out party as a global hoops star. He was the leading vote-getter in
fan balloting and started Sunday's main game. But it was his jaw-dropping
array of jams in the Slam Dunk contest that catapulted him among the
NBA's elite players.
Carter brought fans and all-stars to their feet with his above-the-rim
wizardry, which included a spectacular third attempt in which he took
a bounce pass from then-Raptor teammate Tracy McGrady and tucked the
ball under his right leg before slamming it down.
4. Making the most of
southern exposure – Feb. 27, 2000
Carter has a career night (AP Photo).
Carter's all-star heroics left American TV networks scrambling to
air Raptors games south of the border. It didn't take long for NBC
to add an encounter between Toronto and the Phoenix Suns to its schedule.
It would be the Raptors' first U.S. network TV appearance. Carter
didn't disappoint, scoring a career-high 51 points and grabbing nine
rebounds in a thrilling 103-102 Raptors victory.
5. Carter performs Olympic
high jump – Sept. 25, 2000
The Carter legend grew with one giant leap
at the 2002 Sydney Olympics. Sure, he helped the Americans capture
yet another men's basketball gold.
However, Vince snatched the spotlight with the play of the tournament
– a spread-eagle dunk over the head of 7-foot-2 French centre
Frederic Weis. Many onlookers were left speechless. Not U.S. teammate
Jason Kidd.
"That was probably the best play I've seen in basketball,"
said Kidd. "Michael Jordan hasn't done that. Nobody has done
that."
If there was any event that cemented Carter's
foot in the Toronto community, it was his annual all-star charity
games.
The games were more than an opportunity to raise money for Carter's
charity. They were marquee events in Toronto, drawing capacity crowds
and NBA stars like Alonzo Mourning, Elton Brand, Antawn Jamison, Shawn
Marion and Derek Anderson over the years.
The game has raised more than $500,000 since its inception and is
the only NBA-sanctioned charity game to sell out in its first three
years of existence.
7. Raptors make post-season
debut – April 23, 2000
Everything started to fall into place for
the Raptors during the 1999-2000 season. Or so it seemed.
The Raptors advanced to the playoffs for the first time with a 45-37
regular-season record – Carter's second season in the league
– and met the New York Knicks in the first round.
Things didn't go smoothly for Carter and the Raptors. Toronto coach
Butch Carter took the focus off the court when he published a book
and accused his former college coach, Indiana's Bobby Knight, of calling
a teammate a racist name. He also sued Knicks forward Marcus Camby
for defamation of character, claiming the ex-Raptor called him a liar.
The Knicks won three close games in sweeping the Raptors.
8. Carter's Raptors
topple the Knicks – May 4, 2001
After getting swept by the Knicks in the
2000 playoffs, Carter got his revenge in 2001.
Down 2-1 in the best-of-five series, the Raptors rebounded with two
straight wins to oust the Knicks at Madison Square Garden and advance
to the second round for the first time in franchise history. Carter
poured in 27 points in a Game 5 win that one article said "validated
himself as a superstar."
He would go on to average 27.3 points in the playoffs. It was also
the last season in which he appeared in the post-season with the Raptors.
It was a match-up between two of the most
exciting players in the NBA. And it lived up to its advanced billing.
Philadelphia's Allen Iverson and Carter staged a little ol' fashioned
game of one-upmanship during their second-round match of the 2001
playoffs.
The players took care of the offence for their respective clubs, as
Iverson hit the 50-point plateau twice over the course of the seven-game
series, while Carter scored the half-century once.
It was an intriguing competition between Carter – established
as one of the most electrifying players at the time – and Iverson,
the league's MVP. Iverson won the battle in the end though, as Carter
missed a shot at the buzzer to give the Sixers a Game 7 victory.
Watching Carter crumpled on the floor clutching
his leg has become an all-too-common occurrence in Toronto.
For the past three years, the biggest question for Raptors fans would
be whether Carter would actually finish a game as injuries took their
toll on the star.
When it looked like the Raps were poised for a big breakthrough in
2001-02 , he developed problems with his left knee and underwent surgery.
Going under the knife didn't solve all of Carter's problems. The knee
still bothered him over the next two years and he left a game or missed
time due a number of ailments all too frequently for Raptor fans.
Some say that the injuries have limited the star's effectiveness and
he's more likely to opt for the safe jump shot than a bone-rattling
dunk these days.
What did Vince Carter do on the biggest day
of his NBA career? He went back to his alma mater.
In a move that was
both praised and criticized, Carter returned to the University of
North Carolina to attend his graduation on the same day he was to
appear in Game 7 of the Eastern Conference semi-final against the
Philadelphia 76ers.
Using the team owner's plane, Carter attended
the early-morning ceremony – he completed his final course in
Afro-American studies through correspondence in the summer –
and then arrived back in Philadelphia in time for the sudden-death
game.
His punctual return didn't deter his critics,
who said Carter should have spent the time preparing for the game
instead of participating with a bunch of strangers in a ceremony that
he could have delayed until the summer or next fall. There would have
been less criticism about Carter's actions if he actually made a last-second
buzzer shot that would have put the Raptors into the Eastern Conference
final.
Summer 2001 was a time of great optimism
for Toronto basketball fans. The Raptors were a few months removed
from the first playoff-series victory in franchise history and came
within a game of advancing to the Eastern final.
Many felt the club's nucleus would bolt for greener pastures.
However, Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald re-signed Antonio Davis,
Alvin Williams and Jerome Williams, which led Carter signing a six-year,
$94 million US extension. Carter's commitment to Toronto helped the
club lure Hall of Fame centre Hakeem Olajuwon to the Raptors.
13. Gives up starting
all-star spot – Feb. 9, 2003
Carter felt heat from both players and fans
for initially refusing to hand his starting spot on the 2003 Eastern
All-Star team to basketball legend Michael Jordan. Fans voted Carter
to the squad even though injuries limited him to just 15 games at
that point in the season.
Fans, players and
media stirred the debate in the lead up to All-Star weekend. Stars
Tracy McGrady and Allen Iverson both offered their starting positions
to Jordan. Carter maintained his stance – saying he was going
to start for all the fans who voted for him.
However, the Raptors star had a last-minute
change of heart. Minutes before tip-off, it was announced Carter had
surrendered his starting role to Jordan.
"My decision was to start," Carter
said after the game. "After a while I sat back and thought about
it and said, 'Hey, this is his last one, he is the greatest player
and I'm going to get this opportunity to come out here and play again."
One of the worst-kept NBA secrets became
public on Sept. 16, 2004. That's the date the Toronto Star published
a story confirming Carter's desire to leave Toronto. The Raptors star
told the newspaper "it's just time for me to look after me."
The public trade
demand came on the heels of a summer filled with reports of Carter's
discontent. He reportedly was upset about not being consulted in major
Raptor decisions such as the hiring of GM Rob Babcock and first-year
head coach Sam Mitchell.
Vince Carter finally receives his wish and
gets traded out of Toronto. "Air Canada" is sent south to
the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams,
Aaron Williams and two first round draft picks.
...it's
just time for me to look after me.
