A Toronto Raptors legend returned to the city today with some big news, four years after his retirement from professional basketball.
The #15 jersey of Vince Carter, the former Raptors superstar who is widely credited for growing the love of basketball in Canada, will be retired in Scotiabank Arena in November.
“I was extremely grateful when the Raptors informed me of their plans to retire my jersey in November in the arena that gave me my start in the NBA and was the home of so many special memories for me,” Vince Carter said in a press release on Friday. “I look forward to sharing that moment with my family, friends and the Toronto fans who made my time with the Raptors so memorable.”
Carters’ jersey will be the first-ever retired jersey in Raptors history, a ceremony which will take place at halftime of the Nov. 2 match-up against the Sacramento Kings.
“The Carter effect is real. It was Vince who inspired kids across Toronto and Canada, who got a basketball into their hands and inspired them to take flight, as he did so many times in our jersey,” Toronto Raptors Vice-Chairman and President Masai Ujiri said in a statement.
“Now, as we celebrate our 30th anniversary, we honour our past, and it’s fitting Vince’s iconic number 15 will hang as the first jersey in franchise history to be retired, high above the court where he captured our imaginations and helped us dream big.”
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New Raptors uniforms will be unveiled in the coming weeks for the team’s 30th anniversary and are said to “recognize” Carter.
Today, jerseys were hung in different parts of the city today in his honour.
The Raptors franchise and MLSE Foundation also unveiled today the revitalized Vince Carter Court in Dixon Park, which was originally built in 2003 by Carter’s Embassy of Hope Foundation, along with the Raptors North Legacy Courts.
The organizations teamed up on the community courts as part of their commitment to empower youth in basketball and improve accessibility to the sport.
“It is an honour to come back to Toronto, a city I will always consider a second home, to be a part of today’s court unveiling and to work with the Raptors and MLSE Foundation to provide community facilities for the youth of Toronto that will help create important opportunities for them in the future,” Carter said.
