Vince Carter said if given the choice, he would go into the Basketball Hall of Fame wearing the jersey of the Toronto Raptors.
“TORONTO. IT HAS TO BE,
IT'S WHERE IT ALL STARTED.”Vince Carter on what jersey he would wear to the Hall of Fame.
(via: @RunItBackFDTV) pic.twitter.com/VSdK4Tpow7
— TSN (@TSN_Sports) February 21, 2024
“Toronto, I mean, it has to be,” Carter said. “It’s where it started. That’s where it all…to continue the rise. Yes, I had great years in [New] Jersey, but it started there. And my confidence and understanding the player that I could be in the league was trending upwards still in Toronto.”
Carter was recently named as one of the 14 finalists for the Hall of Fame’s Class of 2024. The chosen inductees will be announced in April and enshrined in August.
The No. 5 overall pick in the 1998 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, Carter was traded to the Raptors in exchange for No. 4 overall pick Antwan Jamison on draft day.
Carter played his first six NBA seasons for the Raptors before they traded him to the New Jersey Nets during his seventh NBA campaign. He played in five seasons for the Nets before finishing his lengthy record-breaking career with stints with the Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Atlanta Hawks, Orlando Magic, Sacramento Kings and Phoenix Suns. He last played in the NBA in the 2019-20 season.
His 22 seasons played are an NBA record, and he is the only player to have played in four different decades.
The University of North Carolina product won Rookie of the Year honors with the Raptors and also famously captured the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest while representing Toronto. He earned five of his eight All-Star selections while with the Raptors and averaged 23.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game in 403 regular season appearances for them.
The Nets would be the other possible option for Carter’s possible Hall of Fame jersey. He represented them as an All-Star three times and averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game in 374 regular season games.
Carter holds the single-season scoring record for both the Raptors and Nets franchises. He never played in the NBA Finals and got as far as a conference finals just once, with the Magic in 2010.
Now 47 years old, Carter recently revealed that the NBA once offered $1 million each to him, LeBron James, Kobe Bryant and Tracy McGrady to compete in the Slam Dunk Contest.
Former NBA players Dick Barnett, Chauncey Billups, Michael Cooper and Walter Davis are among the other Hall of Fame finalists. Former player, coach and broadcaster Doug Collins is being considered in the contributor category, and Jerry West, who was enshrined as a player in 1980, also is a finalist as a contributor for his front-office work with several organizations.
