First it was the Basketball Hall of Fame in August 2024. Then it was his jersey retirement in Brooklyn in January 2025.
Now, Vince Carter will be honored once again by the Brooklyn Nets. On Sunday, VC will be the Nets representative on the dias for the NBA Lottery, hoping the same luck that sustained them during his four seasons in New Jersey will continue in Chicago.
Later, the Nets tweeted out Carter’s reaction…
The names of all 14 reps on the dias will be announced tomorrow along with those who will sit in the actual draft room. Last year, the Nets were represented by Makar Gevorkian, the Nets capologist and vice-president of strategy. Like the Nets, other teams have chosen fan favorites from the past: Chicago with Tony Kukoc and Washington with John Wall.
While the Hall of Fame and jersey retirement honored Carter for his past achievements, Sunday will be about the future. The Nets have a 14.0% chance at the overall No. 1 and can’t fall below No. 7.
Carter, now 49, played for eight teams over 22 seasons in the league, but a strong argument can be made that his time in New Jersey was him at his best.
Carter joined the Nets in December 2004 in a trade that Peter Vecsey, the New York Post hoops writer, called the most lop-sided in 25 years. After controversies arose in Toronto over time lost to injuries and reputed lack of effort, the Raptors sent VC to New Jersey for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams and Aaron Williams and two first round draft picks, neither of which amounted to much.
From his first days in New Jersey, Carter was a fan favorite, his electric play the perfect complement to Kidd’s steady unselfishness. In that year, he averaged 27.5 points a game for the rest of the season compared to 15.3 in Toronto.
Although his role in New Jersey is often overshadowed by what he did in his early years in Toronto — essentially popularizing basketball in hockey-mad Canada, the numbers are similar and Carter re-established his reputation at the Meadowlands after it had been tarnished at the Air Canada Center
Carter played almost as many games for the Nets as he did for the Raptors — 374 to 403 — and actually averaged more points — 23.6 to 23.4 — in his New Jersey tenure. His assists, rebounds and shooting percentage were all higher in New Jersey. And the love was just as strong and it was requited.
Mr. Whammy, who will join VC in Chicago as a guest of Joe Tsai, was asked back in 2025 about what made Carter special.
“I have to describe Vince in one respect: he was the ballet star of the NBA,” Whammy told NetsDaily. “You had to wonder and wonder about the things he did and what he would do next. He would fly. He would spin under the basket. He brought brilliance to the game. I don’t think there’s ever been a player as graceful as Vince Carter. He was the ballet star of the NBA.”
This time around, VC will only have to sit quietly and remain cool while deputy commissioner Mark Tatum open and read the giant cards with team names on them, identifying those who will pick Nos. 14 through 5 first, then after a commercial break, the final four get chosen.
Things begin at 3:00 p.m. ET on ESPN.
Carter has become the Nets leading “alumni” in recent years. In addition to being honored after the Hall of Fame and with the jersey retirement, he traveled with the Nets to Macau last October for the renewal of the NBA China Games between Brooklyn and Phoenix.
