Vince Carter wants to represent Raptors in Basketball Hall of Fame

If Vince Carter had his choice of what jersey to wear if he’s selected to the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, he says he’d go with a Toronto Raptors uniform.

After being named a finalist for the hoops shrine last week, Carter was asked by FanDuel TV’s “Run it Back” on Tuesday if he’d want to wear a Raptors or New Jersey Nets jersey into the hall.

“Toronto. Toronto. Toronto. It has to be. It’s where it started,” Carter said.

“Yes, I had great years in Jersey, but it started there. My confidence and understanding of the player I could be in the league was trending upwards still in Toronto.”

Carter is a front-runner to be named as part of the Hall’s class of 2024 on April 6. Enshrinement weekend is Aug. 16-17 in Springfield, Mass.

While there is often debate about what cap players will wear into the National Baseball Hall of Fame and Museum, players don’t go into the basketball hall in a specific jersey.

But Carter’s answer still offers some insight into how he feels about the Raptors, 20 years after his controversial exit from his first of eight NBA teams.

With Carter showing signs of displeasure with the franchise, Carter was traded to the Nets in 2004 in what is widely regarded as a terrible trade for Toronto.

Carter was booed loudly by Raptors fans when he visited for years after the trade, but feelings started to change toward the end of his NBA record 22-season career in 2020 as he became a fan favourite again.

Now, there is plenty of talk about how the Raptors will eventually honour Carter, who became a massive star in the basketball world while with Toronto. He was NBA Rookie of the Year in 1999 and won the Slam Dunk competition with an incredible performance the following year.

Carter also led the Raptors to their first playoff series win in franchise history in 2001 before he missed a potential game-winning shot in the dying seconds of Game 7 of the second round against the Philadelphia 76ers.

Meanwhile, Carter told “Run it Back” that the NBA once tried to elevate the slam dunk contest years ago by putting up $1 million for the top prize with a star-studded field.

Carter said the NBA was looking at a field with himself, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and former Raptors teammate and Hall of Famer Tracy McGrady.

“That’s the three others I recall, but guys didn’t want to do it,” he said.