Toronto Raptors are set to make history with a gesture long overdue. For the first time, they will retire a jersey, raising Vince Carter’s #15 to the rafters at Scotiabank Arena. It’s a fitting tribute during the Raptors’ 30th season, a celebration that wouldn’t feel complete without acknowledging VC, who put Toronto basketball on the map. Before the big moment, Carter spent 30+ minutes reflecting on his journey, and ONE moment caught everyone’s attention—a heartfelt acknowledgment of Drake, Toronto’s ultimate Raptors fan!

With a packed arena watching, Vince Carter took a moment to give a special shout-out to Drake, who was there cheering him on. He recalled a memory that even he couldn’t believe at first: the time he tossed his armband to a young Drake in the crowd!

“Let’s give a shoutout to this guy right here, Drake. My brother, thank you for being here,” Carter began. He shared, “Drake told me that one of the games I threw my armband to him. And how about that? A freaking icon here that I threw my armband to.”

Drake’s connection with Vince Carter goes back even further, to the 2017 documentary The Carter Effect, which the viral music artist co-produced. One scene in the film captures Drake proudly showing off a SLAM magazine cover where he’s posed alongside Raptors stars Kyle Lowry and DeMar DeRozan with the title “6 Gods.” Drake, ever the hometown hero and household name, called it, “the coolest thing I ever got to do…to freeze this moment in time.” Truly, as Drake put it, “This is the Carter effect.”

And, just like Drake, another co-producer of The Carter Effect and long-time friend Lebron James made it wholesome with his tribute. On X, LeBron shared, “CONGRATULATIONS VINSANITY!!!! @mrvincecarter15. DOPE!! IMMORTALIZED IN THE 6!!!”.

Drake got “The Carter Effect”

Drake, the Grammy-winning Toronto-born rapper and a pop culture icon with a net worth of around $250 million, has always been vocal about what Carter meant to him growing up. He was front and center in The Carter Effect documentary, which premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival in 2017. As the screening concluded, Drake took to the stage to talk about how Carter’s rise changed the game for him. “It just let me know that it was possible,” he said. “It was confidence, It was the realization that it was attainable. This guy could come over here and lift us up. Imagine if it was one of us that could make it out there.”

Interestingly NBA legend Kevin Garnett credits Vince Carter for making Drake & other stars a part of Raptors fan culture. In an episode of KG Certified, Garnett described, “When Vince got to Toronto, he made that a place, boy.”

And KG didn’t stop there. He explained how Carter’s legacy rippled across the country and inspired a generation of stars. “I actually thought that the emergence of Drake, the emergence of the Weeknd, the emergence of Tory Lanez, the emergence of Nelly Furtado, Steve Nash…it put all that on the map. Vince coming up there making the ‘oohs and ahs’ and giving Toronto that just made Toronto another melting pot. He changed the culture, changed the basketball culture.”