TORONTO — LeBron James and his Los Angeles Lakers had to pay their respects to Vince Carter, too.
James and teammate Anthony Davis both praised Carter after their 131-125 win over the Raptors on Friday. Carter will become the first player in Raptors history to have his jersey retired in a pre-game ceremony on Saturday.
"Congratulations to Vinsanity, rightfully so," said James by his locker. "It makes all the sense in the world he's done for this franchise, the impact he had in his community.
"The way he changed how basketball has looked at in Canada itself, obviously Toronto. It’s well deserved."
Carter's iconic No. 15 will be raised to the rafters of Scotiabank Arena on Saturday ahead of Toronto's game with the Sacramento Kings. It'll hang beside the Raptors' 2019 NBA Championship banner.
Carter was drafted fifth overall by the Golden State Warriors in the 1998 NBA draft but Toronto immediately traded Antawn Jamison, the fourth overall pick, for him.
He played for the Raptors for five full seasons before being traded to the New Jersey Nets in the midst of his sixth. He went on to play for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks over 22 NBA seasons.
Davis, who started playing in the NBA 14 years into Carter's career, said that even then the Hall of Famer was a challenge to play against.
"Guys like me who are shot blockers would see him coming down the lane would have to make a business decision and get out the way or get dunked on because he wasn't really missing," said Davis, who added that Carter's legendary performance in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest also left an impression on him.
"The dunk contest and everything like that, you wanted to watch that because Vince was in it. He meant a lot to our game."
The Lakers will still be in Toronto on Saturday, as their next game is in Detroit against the Pistons on Monday.
"I'm just happy for him and everything that is coming has come his way over the last 12 months," said Los Angeles head coach JJ Redick, alluding to Carter's induction into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame on Oct. 13.
"Anybody who came of age in the late '90s, early 2000s, they look back on that version of Vince with a high level of fondness."
Redick played for the Duke Blue Devils in university and joked that he was a fan of Carter's even though he went to the rival University of North Carolina. Ultimately, they played together in Orlando for the 2009-10 season and part of the 2010-11 campaign before Carter was traded to Phoenix.
Asked who could jump higher, Redick laughed and said that Carter is about six-foot-six and he's six-foot-four "on a good day, if I've done Pilates consistently."
"We used to always joke, because if we would sit down next to each other and be like, ‘do your posture,’ we did our posture. I was actually taller than him when I was sitting," said Redick. "Vince is, like, all arms. He's got a small torso. I'm like, the exact opposite.
"He could definitely jump higher. Better wingspan, better standing reach, all the things, all the things you want in a basketball player."
This report by The Canadian Press was first published Nov. 1, 2024.
John Chidley-Hill, The Canadian Press
