Vince Carter's Retirement

[Apollo]

Thread: So he's retired. He announced this was his last season and the Hawks aren't moving forward even if there are more games. Answer these questions:

1. After this season is officially over do you think the Raptors will offer him a one day deal so he can retire as a Raptor? If they do offer it, do you think he will accept?
2. Do you think he deserves to be honored by the Raptors in some way for his years of service? If so, what does that look like?
3. Do you think he gets into the Hall right away or am I presuming too much with my question?

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Poll: Rate Vince Carter's career on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best of course.

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[KeonClark]

• After this season is officially over do you think the Raptors will offer him a one day deal so he can retire as a Raptor? If they do offer it, do you think he will accept?

no I dont think they will. No reason in particular

• Do you think he deserves to be honored by the Raptors in some way for his years of service? If so, what does that look like?

absolutely. I think they will retire his jersey and do a big ta doo "air Canada night". It will be super classy in true raptor form

• Do you think he gets into the Hall right away or am I presuming too much with my question?

I'm not sure if hes first ballot on credentials alone but think he will he first ballot based on his contributions to the game. Young fans may not know there was a 12 month stretch in 2000 where Vince was the most popular nba player on the entire planet. Vinsanity changed the dunk comp forever and made him a household name. Without his flash hes basically a Ray Allen

[KeonClark]

As for the poll, hes a 7 rounding up, but had potential to be a 9 or a 10. Wasted talent is one of his stories. He could have been Kobe.

[S.R.]

I put him at a 5 because of his potential. Even Ray Allen got rings. Vince wanted to be the man but couldn't win, even while spending his entire prime in a historically weak East and managing to play with other All-Stars and a HOFer in Jason Kidd. Vince should have been competing with Kobe.

I honestly don't care what the Raptors do or don't do with Vince at this point. He was a lot of fun a long time ago, still the way he left means he's not a lifelong Raptors treasure. He's a guy who bounced around the league trying to play a lot of games and score a lot of points. Good for him.

Those early couple years were great and fun, he was electrifying for a bit there. But even as a franchise now we've been way, way past that. We've got The Shot, we've got Lowry the GROAT, we've got a chip. Give Vince a poster or a mural, at retirement or if/when he gets into the Hall. Don't give him a statue and don't retire his jersey.

[Apollo]

As for the poll, hes a 7 rounding up, but had potential to be a 9 or a 10. Wasted talent is one of his stories. He could have been Kobe.

I used to think this way but I changed my mind. I don't think he ever could have been Kobe, especially after spending way too much time lately watching NBA docs and interviews. Vince is arguably a top ten player all time when it comes to physical gifts but he didn't have it upstairs. That's not to say his was stupid or anything like that, quite the contrary, he's a bright man. However, he was too nice and too sensitive for competitive sports. Who he is as person prevented him from hitting that next level. There are no stories of him ripping guys a new one in practice or on the court. In fact in Toronto when he was being crowned as the next MJ in 2000 he had Oakley on his ass every step of the way. The worst thing that happened to him was losing Oak. You can see a clear drop off immediately after.

That said, I don't think Vince made too many enemies outside of MLSE and Toronto. That was all attributable to a young guy getting it all too fast on a team that didn't have their shit together to mentor him properly or keep the right pieces around him to keep him on track. He'll be remembered for the highlight dunks and being a very nice guy.

[bertarapsfan]

I think they do probably do the 1-day thing even tho i would be okay if they didnt. He's not really know for any other team but us. When people think Vince they think raptors. They could always just honor him without doing the contract anyways.

Vince defiantly never lived up to his potential im sure he had a fun career but had more talent then what we ever saw display its self on the court. His peak of his career was trading 50 point games with A.I in that series. A.I went on to be one of the best scorers and natural talents the NBA has ever seen. Vince never reached those heights again.

As for hall of fame he will get it, could even be right away. His "graduation year" if you want to call it that will have Pau. He retired this year right? Other then that he will be competing with guys who have been retired for a while. Webber, Billups etc. Don't think he will have to wait to long to get in

[Apollo]

Here's another question: did the Raptors championship run impact Vince Carter's perceived legacy in Toronto?

[NeedTristanThompson]

I think they do probably do the 1-day thing even tho i would be okay if they didnt. He's not really know for any other team but us. When people think Vince they think raptors. They could always just honor him without doing the contract anyways.

Vince defiantly never lived up to his potential im sure he had a fun career but had more talent then what we ever saw display its self on the court. His peak of his career was trading 50 point games with A.I in that series. A.I went on to be one of the best scorers and natural talents the NBA has ever seen. Vince never reached those heights again.

As for hall of fame he will get it, could even be right away. His "graduation year" if you want to call it that will have Pau. He retired this year right? Other then that he will be competing with guys who have been retired for a while. Webber, Billups etc. Don't think he will have to wait to long to get in

Finally a Vince graduation we can all appreciate hahahahhahaa

Man keon Clark I had no idea about this stuff! I was not old enough in 2000 to kno what was going on w the Raps. Wild!

[bertarapsfan]

Here's another question: did the Raptors championship run impact Vince Carter's perceived legacy in Toronto?

Absolutely. Even though both Demar and Kyle passed him as fan favorites/ raps best players. Vinces prime was still the most relevant the raps have ever been.
Championship kills that. Hell even Kawhis shot vs the sixers might have killed that even if we didnt win.
We dont need to hold onto past relevancy anymore. We the Champs, now vince misses us, we dont miss him.

[Apollo]

I think they do probably do the 1-day thing even tho i would be okay if they didnt. He's not really know for any other team but us. When people think Vince they think raptors. They could always just honor him without doing the contract anyways.

Vince defiantly never lived up to his potential im sure he had a fun career but had more talent then what we ever saw display its self on the court. His peak of his career was trading 50 point games with A.I in that series. A.I went on to be one of the best scorers and natural talents the NBA has ever seen. Vince never reached those heights again.

As for hall of fame he will get it, could even be right away. His "graduation year" if you want to call it that will have Pau. He retired this year right? Other then that he will be competing with guys who have been retired for a while. Webber, Billups etc. Don't think he will have to wait to long to get in

It would be tough to vote in Carter over Billups and Webber should already be in there but I'd go with Carter over him. Carter is top 20 all time in scoring, 8x Allstar and is the only player to play in four different decades. That trumps Cweb.

[KeonClark]

I used to think this way but I changed my mind. I don't think he ever could have been Kobe, especially after spending way too much time lately watching NBA docs and interviews. Vince is arguably a top ten player all time when it comes to physical gifts but he didn't have it upstairs. That's not to say his was stupid or anything like that, quite the contrary, he's a bright man. However, he was too nice and too sensitive for competitive sports.

Well, I think we're agreeing to be honest. Vince COULD have been Kobe, if he had the mental fortitude, work ethic, and desire.

[bertarapsfan]

It would be tough to vote in Carter over Billups and Webber should already be in there but I'd go with Carter over him. Carter is top 20 all time in scoring, 8x Allstar and is the only player to play in four different decades. That trumps Cweb.

Ya and they very well could be in by the time vince comes around. Pau is guaranteed 1st ballot so that leaves 3 spots, they usually do some random old timer if the class isnt stacked so it will likely come down to vince vs someone from the early 2000s.

Thinking about it T-Mac was 1st ballot i think T-Mac ended up having a better career then Vince which you would not have thought would be the case based on the early days.

[KeonClark]

Finally a Vince graduation we can all appreciate hahahahhahaa

Man keon Clark I had no idea about this stuff! I was not old enough in 2000 to kno what was going on w the Raps. Wild!

Vince was the lead dog in the race to be the Post Jordan Face Of The NBA

[planetmars]

Vince was actually better than Kobe. Kobe just spent more time in the gym and had better help (Shaq then Pau) and became the better guard. The better comparison is with Pierce. They were both drafted together. Vince's trajectory was sky high. Pierce was a decent player but no where close. Then Vince got hurt, and left town, and just became a journeyman. Pierce turned into a top 50 all-time talent.


After this season is officially over do you think the Raptors will offer him a one day deal so he can retire as a Raptor? If they do offer it, do you think he will accept?

It seems like something they would consider doing. Vince would easily welcome that I bet. Anything to give his legacy an extra boost is not something I think he'd reject. There was already some level of forgiveness from both sides during the 25 year anniversary year.


Do you think he deserves to be honored by the Raptors in some way for his years of service? If so, what does that look like?

Honour sure. They did that already though. I don't think they should ever retire his number or anything. I don't think he gets a key to the city (which is dumb anyway). One day maybe they can do an honour roll or something and just have him there with other guys that were impactful in their tenure like Stoudamire, Bosh and Kawhi.



Do you think he gets into the Hall right away or am I presuming too much with my question?

His basketball reference Hall of Fame probability is 94.5%. That's pretty much a sure bet that he'll make it. First ballot is not deserved but it really depends on his class and how many guys they want to bring in at once. I think he should wait a bit. He never won a chip. Was never really a top 5 player in the league at any point. He had a good college career and played for team USA though.


Rate Vince Carter's career on a scale from 1 to 10, 10 being the best of course.

Going to give him a solid 7. He played in 8 all-star games and made the all-nba team twice. That's pretty solid. And being in the league through 4 decades and 24 seasons is not easily repeatable. But he's not a top 50 player of all time either. Maybe not even a top 100 player.

[Apollo]

Well, I think we're agreeing to be honest. Vince COULD have been Kobe, if he had the mental fortitude, work ethic, and desire.

And Bruce Bowen could have been Kobe if he had the athleticism and natural scoring abilities of Vince Carter.