What to Know and Expect When the Raptors Retire Vince Carter’s No. 15

Vince Carter makes history.

For the first time in franchise history, the Toronto Raptors are set to retire the jersey and will retire Carter’s No. 15 on Saturday night. It’s part of the team’s annual celebration of Toronto’s 30th NBA season.

The Raptors plan to retire Carter’s jersey at halftime during a roughly 20-minute ceremony midway through Saturday’s game against the Sacramento Kings. The break in honor of Carter will be a little longer than usual.

Raptors President and Vice Chairman Masai Ujiri will perform alongside Carter, who will be joined by his family and numerous former Raptors players and Carter’s teammates. A full list of former players in attendance will be announced during the pre-game festivities.

It’s a little complicated.

By and large, there will be plenty of people there ready to honor Carter, and he’s sure to receive a standing ovation as his jersey rises to the rafters. However, there will be some fans – perhaps even more – who still haven’t forgiven Carter for how his time in Toronto ended. For them, two decades still haven’t changed how they feel about Carter, who they believe left the organization and left the Raptors in Toronto’s infamously disastrous trade with the New Jersey Nets. It wouldn’t be surprising if there were cheers during the ceremony, but applause would likely drown them out.

Judging by how emotional Carter was when Toronto announced the organization’s decision to retire his jersey, don’t be surprised if he gets a little emotional on Saturday, too.

If Kyle Lowry had already retired, there is no doubt that he would be the first player to have his jersey retired. The problem, of course, is that Lowry continues to go from strength to strength, and Toronto didn’t want to wait any longer to honor Carter. The Raptors consulted with Lowry before deciding to honor Carter. and with his blessing decided to continue the ceremony.

After Lowry, the question will be how Toronto will honor DeMar DeRozan, who will be in town for the ceremony with the Sacramento Kings. DeRozan didn’t have the impact of Carter or Lowry’s career accomplishments, but there will certainly be talk of retiring him whenever he retires from the game.