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A promise left unfilled, Vince Carter and the Raptors
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A promise left unfilled, Vince Carter and the Raptors

When people think of Vince Carter's time with the Toronto Raptors, they think of his legendary performance at the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest or his 50-point outburst in Game 3 of the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals against Allen Iverson and the 76ers. Maybe they think of his infamous graduation day that started in North Carolina and ended with him missing a potential game-winning shot in Game 7 to get the Raptors to the Eastern Conference Finals. When I think of Carter and the Raptors, my first memory is this iconic photo of Isiah Thomas bursting through the Raptors logo at the franchise's introductory press conference.

I spent most of my childhood and teenage years in Toronto after my family immigrated from Hong Kong. While everyone in my class gravitated toward hockey (as I took figure skating classes, a story for another time), basketball immediately became my favorite sport thanks to Shaquille O'Neal, Penny Hardaway and the Orlando Magic. I remember how excited I was when they made the Finals and how crushed I was when Nick Anderson missed those four free throws and the Magic was swept by Houston. I also remember how excited I was when I heard Toronto was getting its own team.

When Isiah Thomas burst through that Raptors logo, we had a name and an arena (well, not really, we played at the SkyDome in the beginning), and soon a bunch of players from the expansion draft and eventual Rookie of the Year Damon Stoudamire wore our stupid-looking dinosaur jerseys. I remember being jealous of my older sister because she went to the Sears department store by our place and was able to convince my mom to get her a Raptors hat and T-shirt.


Save for random nights like the time we beat the 72-10 Bulls, the Raptors were terrible early on. Thomas left after a power struggle gone wrong, and Stoudamire — who had a close relationship with Thomas — was traded to Portland after just two and a half seasons in Toronto. We felt like an expansion franchise going nowhere.

And then we got Vince Carter in the 1998 draft.

Even before the dunk contest or the 50-point game in the playoffs, Carter brought a different level of energy to the team and the way we watched the Raptors. For the first time, we had a superstar whom we could envision carrying us to the postseason, going on a deep run and be perhaps even the best player in the league. Carter was one of many players, and the North Carolina ties helped, that drew Jordan comparisons. We were suddenly on national television. Trust me, it was a source of pride seeing Bob Costas and Peter Vecsey talk about us on NBC. I thought these were spots normally reserved for real teams like Patrick Ewing and the Knicks, Michael Jordan and the Bulls. Now, it was Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady's Raptors.

To this day, I'll still never forget the 2001 season. After McGrady left for Orlando, Carter vaulted to another level that season. The Raptors won a franchise-record 47 games and after getting swept against the Knicks the year before faced them in a first-round rematch. Some people forget before his second-round duel with Iverson, Carter was terrible in the playoffs. He shot 3-for-20 in his playoff debut. In 2001, he was 5-for-22 in Game 1 against the Knicks and 5-for-21 in a Game 3 loss that put the Raptors down 2-1 in the best-of-five series.

One of my favorite all-time memories of Carter happened in the first quarter of Game 4 of that series in 2001, when — after spending the entire series hearing about how he was soft and not ready to compete in the playoffs — Carter drove the lane on Latrell Sprewell and threw down a thunderous dunk. It was just two points in an elimination game, but from there on, it felt like Carter was unleashed. The Raptors won that game and Game 5 in New York. They took the Sixers to seven games. The future was bright.

I had no idea after the Game 7 loss in Philadelphia that Carter would never even play in another playoff game in a Raptors uniform again.


Carter's accomplishments in Toronto during the 2001 season meant so much to me because of where we had started as an expansion franchise just half a decade earlier. It also felt like just the beginning of a very prosperous era of basketball.

As a sports fan, you're always managing two narratives in your head. In the first scenario, you think that your favorite players and teams are on a particular trajectory, from a struggling team to one brimming with potential to competing in the playoffs and ultimately getting a shot or — if you dare to dream — winning the championship. Years of rooting for the same thing can make you cynical about your hopes, but when you're in high school watching Carter dominate and fly above the rim on a nightly basis, you start to think the dream is really possible.

The second scenario, the one we try not think about filled with losses and missed opportunities, more often than not, is the one that comes to fruition. The discrepancy between the narrative you want and the narrative that actually happens is where all our bitter and painful sports feelings reside.

With respect to Carter, the disconnect happened quickly. The following season, he missed time with injury, and Toronto managed to sneak in to the playoffs before losing in the first round without him. Injuries to players like Alvin Williams and the ill-fated free agent signing of Hakeem Olajuwon hurt the roster built around Carter. The Raptors missed the playoffs in 2003 and 2004. By the time the 2005 season rolled around, the Raptors were on their third head coach in three seasons and Carter was ready to go somewhere else.

That's when things went really bad.

Carter went into full superstar pouting his way out of town mode, declaring that he didn't want to dunk anymore, even going as far as saying, "For what? You can make a lay-up and get fouled." This is coming from the guy who once jumped over Frederic Weis at the 2000 Olympics. The home crowd, fully aware he wanted out, started turning on him and booing him during games. Then, there was a game that season against Seattle in which three SuperSonics players claimed Carter tipped the Seattle bench off as to what the Raptors inbounds play would be late in the game.

On December 17, 2004, the Raptors traded Carter to the New Jersey Nets in exchange for Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and Alonzo Mourning.


The Raptors wouldn't make the playoffs again until 2007 and wouldn't win another playoff round until last season, when they finally made it to the conference finals for the first time in franchise history. Even as Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan led the team past the second round, I couldn't help but think about what it would have been like if it was Carter and McGrady leading the way. It turns out, the two of them have also thought about it.

In recent years, McGrady has talked about regretting leaving Toronto, even going as far as to say he and Carter would have won a championship in Toronto. Carter revealed he actually approached team management the night before the Nets trade and said he was willing to stay with the team and work it out with the franchise. Through the years, the bitter feelings between the franchise, fan base and Carter have subsided. A few years ago, the Raptors gave Carter a video tribute at the Air Canada Centre when he visited with the Memphis Grizzlies, which brought him to tears.

Carter is still playing with the Grizzlies at age 40, and sometimes I do think it would be nice if he could come back and finish his career with the Raptors. Not some ceremonious one-game thing. I want a full season, coming off the bench, getting cheers from the home crowd every game type thing.

When I think back on Carter's tenure in Toronto, it still feels so unfulfilled. Even a Finals appearance would have been incredible, but instead we got to experience some real highs for a two-year period that ultimately proved fleeting. But like any relationship with your team and your favorite player, time does make those memories grow fonder.

Carter in Toronto should have been like Kobe in Los Angeles, Paul Pierce in Boston or Tim Duncan in San Antonio. But still, over a decade later, the Vince Carter era is the most memorable in Toronto to me.

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