Raising him little by little in a solemn way, suspending his number in the air as he did majestically with his high flights towards the rim to grind it, the Raptors completed the ascension to myth of Vince Carter hanging his 15 in the sky of Toronto, which he delighted with his splendid jumps between 1998 and 2004.
The one who, after missing the winning shot in Game 6, decided to go to his college graduation on the same day as his team’s seventh game in the Conference Semifinals against the Sixers. Allen Iverson in 2001 -with unhappy ending-. That idol fell overnight with his transfer request in 2005, descending into hell as Toronto’s public enemy 1, igniting the crowd even more with a game-winner on one of the visits with the Nets. Months later, in 2005, the city would begin to adopt Jose Manuel Calderon as his new idol.
But Carter was also that matador who made the dunk an art and an ecstasy of creativity that elevated him as the best in history at crushing the hoop, the one who, above all for the Raptors and the country he represents, took a few turns to the world with that apotheosis 360° turn leading his stunning repertoire that left Shaquille O’Neal amazed in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest to put Toronto and Canada on the world basketball map.
Carter’s flights, rightly nicknamed Air Canadamarked the takeoff for Canadian basketball to place it at the heights where it is now, with an NBA champion team with the title that the Raptors won in 2019 with Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka among its members, the foreign country with the most players in the NBA with 23. And a team that has become a world basketball power under the direction of Jordi Fernandez, bronze in the World Cup after defeating the United States and among the best eight in the Olympic Games.
“When that shirt goes up shortly, it won’t just be Vince Carter who goes up, it will be all of you going up,” said the newly proclaimed also excitedly. Hall of Famer before a crowd of more than 20,000 people surrendered to him. The tribute took place at halftime of the Toronto Raptors – Sacramento Kings, with victory for the team of Darko Rajakovic in extra time (131-128) as the final fireworks.
The 15th wanted to make everyone participate in the moment. Although American, Carter was the one who made the newborn Raptors see with his jumps – in 1995 – the bar they could jump and the one who woke up Canada to realize that the country where the inventor of basketball was born, James Naismith I had to be more relevant on the hardwood.
At the top of the Scotiabank Arena, next to the 2019 ring banner and numerous legends of the Maple Leafs of the NHL, the first number retired by the Raptors now rests just in the season in which the franchise turns 30 years old. The Clippers They now remain the only team in the entire NBA without any number retired and their newly inaugurated two billion palace as the only league pavilion in the world as the only one without legendary jerseys on its roof.
Jeremy Lin and José Manuel Calderón, in a Raptors – Knicks
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With the first number they retire, the Raptors underline that particular idiosyncrasy of contrasts that make them the only non-American team in the NBA in their own special way. Because it is not usual for an idol to rise to the heavens, fall and rise again to the heavens at the top with the best honor for a player such as Carter, the only one to have competed in the best league in the world in four different decades in their 22 seasons between 1999 and 2020 as another milestone that makes it unique in history. After his departure to the New Jerseys Nets there was a time in which the shooting guard drafted at number 5 by the Warriors and traded to the Raptors was the most hated guy in Toronto.
until in 2014 Carter was forgiven like a prodigal son with a tribute video for the franchise’s 20th anniversary during his visit to the city with the Grizzlies. Marc Gasol. The guard born in Maitland (Florida) in 1977 also played for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Sacramento Kings and Atlanta Hawks.
Carter’s in the Raptors was an unfinished story that defines the peculiarities of Toronto as that of DeMar DeRozan, ironically a witness present at the event as a player now for the Kings and with 33 points. Also in some way, team and player have made peace after what seemed to be a treacherous transfer, packaged for San Antonio in 2018 in the still talked-about operation for Kawhi Leonard despite being the watchword of the franchise for a decade.
Marc Gasol and Serge Ibaka, a fundamental part of the 2019 champion Raptors
EFE
To the president of the Raptors, Masai Ujirian expeditious businessman, his pulse has never trembled when it comes to making necessary painful decisions to win against feelings and status, such as the dismissal of Dwane Casey also in the summer of 2018 after being named Coach of the Year. That Casey didn’t do anything to LeBron James scoring the winning shot that sent the Raptors home in 2018 for the third time in a row made Ujiri explode.
Although unpopular, those ruthless decisions by the executive proved to be correct with the ring falling in 2019. For once, Ujiri broke with protocol and his icy face and encouraged the fans as Carter’s introductory speaker.
But even in a party of such magnitude, the 15th earned a good handful of whistles:
“I could have been drafted by someone. Let’s say Golden State Warriors,” Carter said half-jokingly but triggering a good wave of boos.
Although the myth of the mates says that he has not stopped crying and crying these days and even burst into tears on several occasions in the press conference prior to the ceremony, there was still room for the guard to exhibit that defiant attitude inherent to greatness . Carter cited the 2001 first-round tie against the Knicks a year after being swept as a big moment.
“Doing that after having to read about a couple of people here was motivating after getting swept,” Carter snapped while throwing challenging glances at some of the reporters present. In his collection of milestones, among others, there are also up to eight appearances at the All Star and one olympic gold with Team USA in 2000, in which, after the virguería of the All Star, he showed that he could also stop the world with spontaneous improvised dunks in the middle of the game with his delirious jump over Frederic Weis in a United States – France.
The big question that will leave the hangover from Vince Carter’s party is who will be the next Raptor to see his jersey elevated. Apart from the members of the 2019 champion Raptors, DeMar DeRozan wins integers and, although difficult, it is not unreasonable to think about Jose Manuel Calderonwho contributed to laying the foundations for the sustained growth of the Canadian franchise until reaching the zenith in 2019. The base of Villanueva de la Serena He won the affection of the Raptor fans with his time between 2005 and 2013, occupying an important place in Toronto’s history as the second highest assist with 3,770 only surpassed by Kyle Lowry and fourth player with the most games with 906. The Extremaduran also started the tradition of Spanish in the Raptors who later followed Jorge Garbajosa, Marc Gasol, Serge Ibaka and Juancho Hernangomez.
But the only one at the moment that rests on top of the Scotiabank Arena is Vince Carter’s 15. A Canadian founded basketball in the United States and an American was the one who had to go to Canada to develop basketball in the cradle of its creator, in the same city that witnessed the first game in the history of the NBA in 1946 between the New York Knicks and the defunct Toronto Huskies to complete the circle. Toronto saw Vince Carter’s 15 ascend to the heavens for the last time. This time to never go down again.
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