Reflecting on Carter’s complicated Raptors legacy

TORONTO – Time heals all wounds.

If you need proof of that theory, consider the nearly three-decade-long relationship between Vince Carter and the Toronto Raptors.

From the franchise’s greatest hero to its most notorious villain, Carter’s legacy has always been complicated. He was Canada’s first basketball megastar. He took the team, city and country to new heights. A human highlight reel. Half-Man/Half-Amazing. Vinsanity. Must-see TV.

And then it was over as quickly as it started. Air Canada was grounded. Carter didn’t want to dunk anymore, and eventually, he didn’t want to be in Toronto anymore. There were questions about his effort level and the legitimacy of his injuries. There was a very public trade demand, and, ultimately, there was the deal that shipped him out of town for pennies on the dollar.

With any bad breakup, there are going to be hurt feelings. The organization felt slighted. The player felt scapegoated. He had two general managers and four head coaches in seven seasons, and once his cousin, Tracy McGrady, left he was never given a proper co-star. It’s not like the club was blameless. The fan base felt scorned (and they would let Carter hear about it whenever he returned as a visitor).

In 2014, 10 years after the trade, Carter was honoured for the Raptors’ 20th anniversary season. In the span of a 90-second video tribute, you could hear the boos turn to cheers, and, finally, a standing ovation. The healing process had started, and Carter’s image in Toronto has undergone a substantial makeover in the decade since.

“I think all of us get better,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said last month. “As people, you forgive. That’s life and that’s the way life should be. When we know better, we do better. He was young and some of the things he did here, we recognize that, but he’s changed as a person, and you can really see it. [He’s] apologetic for that and has grown over the years. I just look at culture. I look at all the things that created the path for us, and I just appreciate the player and the person.”

It will culminate this weekend in Carter’s No. 15 being raised to the rafters at Scotiabank Arena, as he becomes the first player in the franchise’s 30-year history to have his jersey retired. Naturally, there will still be mixed feelings from fans – and even some people within the organization – who haven’t quite forgiven or forgotten, and that’s understandable. This is as polarizing as jersey retirements get.

Fortunately, you don’t have to forgive or forget to appreciate Carter for his many accomplishments in Toronto and the impact that he’s had on the sport in this country. Those aren’t mutually exclusive. You can acknowledge the bad moments, while also celebrating him for the good ones – and there were a lot of good ones.

As the Raptors get set to honour Carter at halftime of Saturday’s game against Sacramento, TSN looks back at his iconic tenure – the highs and the lows – with the help of a couple former executives who witnessed it firsthand.

Interviews have been edited for length and clarity.

Glen Grunwald

Grunwald was a member of the Raptors’ first-ever front office, initially as an assistant general manager. He became the GM in 1997 and was at the helm when they made the draft-night trade to acquire Carter in 1999. He was let go in April of 2004, eventually replaced by the late Rob Babcock, who traded Carter to New Jersey the following season.

TSN: What was your initial reaction when you found out the Raptors were retiring [Carter’s] jersey?

Grunwald: I thought it was well-deserved. I heard rumours about it percolating about, but I was glad to see that Vince was going to come home as the prodigal son and be celebrated for what he did here, and all the good things that he did.

TSN: Going back to draft night, what did you see in him?

Grunwald: We had scouted him when he was at North Carolina and obviously loved his athleticism and his potential. But when he came in for his workout, he really wowed everybody – not only with his tremendous athleticism but the underappreciated skill set that he had as a ball handler and a shooter. Plus, he had a great personality. At that time, we had a lot of negativity about Toronto in the NBA. We were coming off a 16-66 season, I think. But Vince came in, didn’t get much rest the night before because of travel delays from his previous pre-draft workout in Chicago, but he came in with a smile on his face, great energy and a positive attitude, and really seemed to appreciate the opportunity that Toronto would provide. He was excited to come play in Toronto.

TSN: When did you first get the sense that you could be witnessing something special?

Grunwald: I thought we had an opportunity for a special player in the draft process. But I think that year was the lockout year, so we didn’t get started until January and we weren’t allowed to deal with players prior to the lockout ending. So, Vince came in and was in great shape for training camp. Then when the regular season started, he had a tremendous game against another great rookie in Paul Pierce. He just took off from Game 1 and really played well throughout the year. He made a big difference, not only in our team winning, but in terms of people appreciating and coming to love the game of basketball.

TSN: What was it like being around him and the team during those peak years of Vinsanity?

Grunwald: It was good. He’s a good guy, Vince. Obviously, that level of fame and celebrity brings with it some issues, but he pretty much kept a level head. He was easy to work with, was appreciative of what the city and the team could provide him, and was just a very nice and respectful person.

TSN: To say that he put the team on the map has become a bit of a cliché, but from your perspective as someone who experienced it firsthand, what does that mean? Where could you see or feel the differences in terms of how the team was being received?

Grunwald: Most notably, I think, and tangibly, was the number of games we had on national TV in the U.S. It’s tough to get a Toronto team onto national TV because the broadcasters there don’t get any credit for the audience that is created in Canada for the home team. But Vince was such a huge draw, we were on the maximum number of times that were permitted under the NBA broadcast arrangement. So, I think that was a real testament to the star power that he had.

TSN: When did you first get the sense that the relationship between [Carter] and the organization was starting to deteriorate?

Grunwald: He had had some injuries and maybe made a couple mistakes by showing up at a concert or something like that, and the media got on him really hard. So, that was sort of the issue there. I give credit to Vince because it looked like he was going to have an injury-plagued career with some of the problems he was having, but he figured out how to take care of his body and obviously played for a long time. But I always thought that we had a great relationship when he was here, when I was here at least. After I left, then I obviously don’t know the details, but things deteriorated.

TSN: [Carter] was still young and so was the organization. In hindsight, how could he have dealt with things better and how could you guys have dealt with things better?

Grunwald: We could have had a better team for him (laughs). But I don’t think there was any one thing that went wrong. He was figuring out his body. Like I said, he made a couple mistakes, probably, in terms of appearing publicly and dancing on stage when he was on the injured list, but that was probably overblown. I just think it’s the growing pains of a new franchise as you sort things out and figure things out.

Richard Peddie

Richard Peddie

Peddie was named president and CEO of the Raptors in 1996 and later served in the same role at Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment from 1998 until his retirement in 2011. He oversaw business and team operations with the Raptors – as well as the Toronto Maple Leafs, Toronto FC and the Toronto Marlies, among other properties – for Carter’s entire tenure.

TSN: What was your initial reaction when you found out the Raptors were retiring [Carter’s] jersey?

Peddie: He did a lot for basketball in Canada, there’s no doubt. A lot of kids got their parents to buy hoops and started wearing jerseys. Listen, he was really helpful for us on the business side. Season ticket sales, single-game tickets, jersey sales – that was all good. We were getting on television. From a business point of view, it was awesome.

TSN: One of the toughest things to do with a young superstar is finding the balance between keeping him happy and showing him some tough love. How do you think the organization did in terms of finding that balance?

Peddie: If you go back to that time, we were all rookies. Glen was a rookie GM, I was a rookie president, Larry [Tanenbaum] was a rookie owner. Here comes this kid, who’s great, and I don’t think we ever found that balance. We definitely coddled him, and I don’t think it was good for him, and it wasn’t good for us. When you start coddling that’s a slippery slope. His mom gets the parking spot, which was not a big issue but it’s symbolic. He had his own security guard, so there was that. And letting him go to his graduation. I remember walking into the dressing room after a successful game and the PR guy said, “Oh, Vince is going to his graduation,” and I said, “What?” By that time Glen and Larry had already agreed to it. That was Game 7; you [should] want to focus. So, I think we learned as rookies, and I think it wasn’t the best for Vince either. But when he moved on to New Jersey, I talked to the guys there and they just set a different mandate, and it was never an issue with them. And I think he grew up with that team and with other teams as he spent his many years in the NBA.

TSN: When did you first get the sense that the relationship between [Carter] and the organization was starting to deteriorate?

Peddie: It just started getting strange. And then I hired Rob Babcock; turned out not a good hire by me and I don’t think he was equipped to deal with it either. He didn’t have the credibility. And then we changed coaches. There were a lot of things. Again, we were rookies making mistakes. It’s too bad he didn’t come along at time when we were established.

TSN: Take me through the trade request and the trade.

Peddie: Well, it was a horrible trade. I think one of the worst. But the suits, presidents like me, are not supposed to get involved. You’ve got to trust your general manager to make the decisions. And I can remember [Babcock] brought the concept to Wayne Embry, who was working with us as well. Wayne and I had a really close relationship and we both looked at this trade and said this is nuts, this is a horrible trade. Now, Vince hadn’t been playing, I think he was averaging like 15 points a game, he was “injured” – put quotation marks around that. So, I think he had to go, but what we got for him was really poor. And listen, Larry wasn’t happy with it, the board wasn’t happy, no one was really happy, but the dilemma is you’re supposed to let the general manager make that decision. The Richard Peddie now and the Richard Peddie even 15 years ago would say no. I’d veto that trade.

TSN: Do you ever think ‘what if’? What if you guys had handled things differently or what if he had handled things differently?

Peddie: You never know. You can’t rewrite history. It’s possible. But the setup, with rookies all around, and heavy family involvement, it just happened. There’s no doubt that if he had come into an organization that was more established, with real proven general managers, that it would have been nipped in the bud and it would have been different.