If one thing characterized the early years of the Toronto Raptors, it was the players who left. Damon being traded to Portland. Marcus Camby eventually going to New York. Tracy McGrady being allowed to go home to Orlando. Perhaps the most haunting of all was Vince Carter.
He was known as half-man, half amazing. His dunks changed a game before he landed, while his fadeaway jumpers were reminders of Michael Jordan. But it was how he left the team that is best remembered. Like most Raptors’ fans, at the time I hated it. And for a long time after. The sense he quit on the team, the persistent rumours he was perfectly healthy. It wasn’t you thought of when you considered a bigtime NBA player
The franchise’s thirtieth anniversary is a time to reflect. I can’t help but be haunted by a sense of lost possibility. What if he stayed? Would management have built a winning squad around him? How many championships would we have now? But at the same time, we probably wouldn’t have gotten “the shot.” Or we wouldn’t have gotten to meet Pascal Siakam, Fred VanVleet or Norm Powell. There might not have been an RJ Barrett, Shai Gilgeous Alexander, Jamal Murray, Chris Boucher, Lu Dort or Dylan Brooks just to name a few, because there wasn’t a DeRozan, or a Kyle Lowry to inspire them.
If he hadn’t left, we might not have experienced such growth at a national level. Over twenty players in the league come from Canada, and that number grows every year. The Canadian Elite BAsketball League (CEBL) beganThe Raptors have become a source of national pride on the court, and what they do off the court. Love him, or hate him, maybe Carter had to leave for this team to be what it is today.