Carter was a unique situation. People don't remember but with that dunk contest there was a reputation he had to live up to and he knocked it out of the park to the point where it put hockey on the backburner that year post the all star competition. Without him the Raps may as well have gone the way of the Grizzlies as many didn't want to come here out of ignorance. That perception has changed only slightly recently but back then it was a hell no I don't want to come to Toronto, but for Carter I will make an exception. I vividly remember rumors of a Kobe for Carter swap being discussed and some saying LA would have to include more!
And yes he gave up on the Raptors, and at the time was rumored to have tipped off NJ about plays (to me there was credibility to it). It was unprofessional and a major hit to his credibility as Toronto got zilch for the deal that Babcock made. Babcock himself wasn't a bad guy, but he was in over his head in a terrible ownership situation. I was a kid working for MLSE and that organization was terrible to work for even at the bottom. So I can see how he was ultimately lied to, and he gave up on the organization and tanked his value. He deserves some critique for that but he made the franchise. Lowry won a championship and worked hard that one year, but he was never a player that you could say was your first option to carry the team. Vince was that guy, and he put Toronto on the map. To me it's just shortsighted to retire Lowry first. Vince was the man after Stoudamire's hype died down. Aside from Kawhi, nobody's had that level of impact out of nowhere.
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