Vince Carter became the first Toronto Raptors player to get his jersey number retired. His iconic #15 shirt was raised to the rafters of Scotiabank Arena on Friday. During halftime of the game between the Raptors and the Kings, the home community was treated with a moving ceremony of Carter’s immense contribution to the Franchise, and Raptors’ president Masai Ujiri summed up Vince’s legacy perfectly by saying, “He is a legend. He’s an icon. He’s half man, half amazing,” honoring the man of the moment.

So many stars lauded and saluted Carter for his remarkable achievement. He has inspired an entire generation of hoopers, which also includes a lot of current NBA players, and one of them is none other than Klay Thompson, the Mavs’ new acquisition. He showed his appreciation for Vince on his Instagram story by reposting the NBA’s tribute to Vince, from the ceremony captioned, “VC15 Forever”. 

Klay Thompson wrote in his story, “Huge congrats to Vince. One of the greatest ever and did so much for the game. Every kid who was lucky enough to watch him would try to jump like him and were quick to find out that was nearly impossible lol,” congratulating Vince and showing his admiration towards the legend. Further, the Splash Bro posted two pictures from his childhood.

The first picture was of Klay Thompson himself when he was a kid wearing a basketball kit, the second one was zoomed in and focused on the shoes. The shoes he was wearing were Shox shoes, which are often associated with Vince as he wore them during the 2000 Summer Olympics. The caption read, “One of the best days ever when my mom got me the shox for bball season. Vinsanity forever!” thanking his mother for the gift and recalling a wholesome childhood memory that he associated with the Raptors legend.

’15 Forever’ Vince Carter’s legacy in Toronto

Vince Carter hugged his children, as the banner which featured his photo from the Slam Dunk contest from 2000, which he won, was raised to the rafters. He said, “When that jersey goes up shortly, it’s not just Carter, 15 going up. It’s all of us going up,” and added, “The memories that have been created for 6 years, however you view it, go up tonight.” While his career lasted over two decades, he spent some of his most memorable time in Toronto.

As a Raptor, Vince Carter had many achievements in his long career, including winning the Rookie of the Year award in the 1998-99 season. He was also named an All-Star five times in that timeframe and received the most votes from the fans multiple times as well as won the Dunk Contest in 2000. He’s played over 400 games for the franchise and led to the Conference semi-finals in 2001. The retired star’s name has now been etched in Toronto’s history forever and fans will never forget his contribution to the franchise.

Vince Carter’s co-22-season-veteran, LeBron James, also tipped his hat and showered praises where it was due. “CONGRATULATIONS VINSANITY!!!! @mrvincecarter15. DOPE!! IMMORTALIZED IN THE 6!!!” the Laker wrote on X.

In his post-game interview, which happened a bit before the ceremony, The Chosen One listed some of his favorite Carter memories. Beginning with his 50-point haul against the Sixers in 2001’s postseason to “the rookie windmill, two-handed windmill vs. Indiana on Chris Mullins, went around Chris Mullins when Rik Smits trapped the box. The lob in the preseason down at University of North Carolina, we got that windmill. There’s just too many to name, obviously. Obviously, the dunk contest when he shut down the dunk contests and gave it his over signal.”

The memories are countless, aren’t they? Such is the rich legacy of Vince Carter.