{"id":119986,"date":"2025-01-25T10:38:30","date_gmt":"2025-01-25T15:38:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/?p=119986"},"modified":"2025-01-25T10:38:30","modified_gmt":"2025-01-25T15:38:30","slug":"nets-to-retire-vince-carter-before-games-against-miami","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/2025\/01\/25\/nets-to-retire-vince-carter-before-games-against-miami\/","title":{"rendered":"Why Vince Carter\u2019s Time With The Nets Was Special"},"content":{"rendered":"

After losing to the Phoenix Suns 108-84, the Brooklyn Nets will return to the Barclays Center on Saturday to play the Miami Heat. Before the game begins, the Nets will retire<\/a> Vince Carter\u2019s<\/a> jersey.<\/p>\n

Why Vince Carter\u2019s Time With The Nets Was Special<\/h2>\n

Carter played seven seasons for the Toronto Raptors from 1998 to 2004. During his time with the Raptors, he was a fan favorite. Nicknamed “Vinsanity,” Carter was a five-time All-Star and won the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. His memorable 360 windmill dunk is still one of the most talked about dunks in the NBA.<\/p>\n

In 2004, Carter demanded a trade from the Raptors. As the Raptors were rebuilding and no longer felt Carter could lead them to a championship, they traded him to the Nets on December 17, 2004. In exchange for Carter, the Raptors received Alonzo Mourning<\/a>, Aaron Williams<\/a>, Eric Williams<\/a>, and two first-round draft picks.<\/p>\n

Carter\u2019s Time With the Nets<\/h3>\n

Carter played five seasons with the Nets (2004 \u2013 2009). At the time, the Nets played at the IZOD Center in East Rutherford, New Jersey, and were known as the New Jersey Nets. He played alongside NBA legends Jason Kidd<\/a> and Richard Jefferson<\/a>.\u00a0As a Net, Carter averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists, and 1.2 steals in 374 games over 37.9 minutes per game. He ranks third in the team\u2019s history in total points (8,834) and holds the two highest scoring seasons. Carter led the team to three playoff appearances, twice advancing to the Eastern Conference Semifinals. He also represented the team in three All-Star games.<\/p>\n

On June 25, 2009, the Nets traded Carter to the Orlando Magic. He would play on four other teams before retiring. Carter played 22 seasons in the NBA (1998 \u2013 2020) with Toronto, New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento, and Atlanta. He also led the United States team to a gold medal in the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney Australia.<\/p>\n

Nets Retire Vince Carter\u2019s Jersey<\/h3>\n

In October, the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame<\/a> will induct Carter as a member of the Class of 2024 in Springfield, MA. For twenty-two seasons, Carter gave his all and has truly made his impact in the NBA.<\/p>\n

New York has not forgotten Vince Carter’s contributions and is honoring him. On Thursday, the entire Nets\u2019 organization saw the screening of “From Daytona Beach to Brooklyn,” a 90-minute documentary about Carter’s journey to the Hall of Fame.\u00a0Nets head coach\u00a0Jordi Fernandez was complimentary of Carter\u2019s longevity in the league and his willingness to take on different roles.<\/p>\n

\u201cGot to learn a lot about Vince and obviously honored his career, it was a great experience,\u201d Fernandez said<\/a>. \u201cYou don\u2019t realize that he played for 22 years. He went from being like a top guy to having a different role and accepting that role and that means a lot. These guys need to learn that it\u2019s not just [about] taking care of your body and playing for 22 years, but also accepting different roles, accepting different roles and still being a part of the game, and I thought that was very cool.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

On Saturday morning, the Empire State Building will be lit up in the Nets’ throwback red, white, and blue color scheme, with Vince Carter’s number 15 rotating on the spire. Then, on Saturday evening, the Nets will retire Carter’s number.<\/p>\n

Nets Legend<\/h3>\n

In their official release<\/a> announcing Carter’s jersey retirement, the Nets highlighted all of his accomplishments with the team. Joe Tsai, the team\u2019s governor, praised Carter.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe are thrilled to honor former Nets player Vince Carter, who contributed so much to this organization both on and off the court,\u201d Tsai said. \u201cHe is an important part of the Nets franchise history and we look forward to welcoming him to Barclays Center this season to celebrate his legacy.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When the Nets raise Carter\u2019s number 15 to the rafters, it will join the jerseys of other Nets greats: Julius Erving<\/a>, Jason Kidd<\/a>, Drazen Petrovic<\/a>, John Williamson<\/a>, Bill Melchionni<\/a>, Buck Williams<\/a>, and Bill Russell<\/a>.<\/p>\n

Carter told Brian Lewis of the New York Post that having his number retired is a dream.<\/p>\n

\u201cSo I\u2019m very appreciative of being a part of that group, particularly when you\u2019re talking about Dr. J, somebody who I admire. J-Kidd, somebody I admire. I remember coming in, the two guys I\u2019d see [were] 32 and 52. I\u2019d always see that many years ago. So now to go up with them, I was chasing something \u2026 I want to have an impact like [they] did. So it\u2019s just truly amazing to now be here a couple days away,\u201d Carter said<\/a>.<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

When the Nets retire Vince Carter\u2019s jersey, they will honor a true NBA legend. Each time a fan sees his jersey in the rafters, it will be a reminder of his legacy<\/a>. Thank you, Vince Carter, for the memories.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

After losing to the Phoenix Suns 108-84, the Brooklyn Nets will return to the Barclays Center on Saturday to play the Miami Heat. Before the game begins, the Nets will retire Vince Carter\u2019s jersey. Why Vince Carter\u2019s Time With The Nets Was Special Carter played seven seasons for the Toronto Raptors from 1998 to 2004. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":5340,"featured_media":101128,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"no","_lmt_disable":"","sfio_featured_image":false,"sfio_embed_code":"","_ef_editorial_meta_date_first-draft-date":"","_ef_editorial_meta_paragraph_assignment":"","_ef_editorial_meta_checkbox_needs-photo":"","_ef_editorial_meta_number_word-count":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1608,6,62],"tags":[2174,2101,2163,1625,218,3422,49161,2150,2166,933],"class_list":["post-119986","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-basketball","category-nets","category-nba","tag-alonzo-mourning","tag-bill-russell","tag-buck-williams","tag-drazen-petrovic","tag-jason-kidd","tag-joe-tsai","tag-jordi-fernandez","tag-julius-erving","tag-richard-jefferson","tag-vince-carter"],"modified_by":"Jordan Pagkalinawan","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119986","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/5340"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=119986"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119986\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":120000,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/119986\/revisions\/120000"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/101128"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=119986"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=119986"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/lastwordonsports.com\/basketball\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=119986"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}