Nets Retiring Vince Carter's No. 15; Who's Next?

Vince Carter will be forever immortalized in Brooklyn Nets franchise history.

Feb 28, 2023; Brooklyn, New York, USA; Milwaukee Bucks center Brook Lopez (11) drives to the basket against Brooklyn Nets center Nic Claxton (33) during the third quarter at Barclays Center. Mandatory Credit: Brad Penner-Imagn Images / Brad Penner-Imagn Images

The Brooklyn Nets are celebrating Vince Carter on Jan. 25 with the announcement that the organization will retire his jersey.

Carter joins Dražen Petrović (#3), Jason Kidd (#5), John Williamson (#23), Bill Melchionni (#25), Julius Erving (#32), and Charles “Buck” Williams (#52) as the players in franchise history with their jerseys retired.

But who will be the next player to join that elusive group after Carter? There's a case to be made for Brook Lopez.

Lopez, 36, is still kicking it in the NBA with the Milwaukee Bucks, but his career is in its twilight.

He was drafted with the No. 10 overall pick by the New Jersey Nets out of Stanford and played nine seasons with the franchise. The main piece of Lopez's case to have his jersey retired is the fact that he leads the franchise in all-time scoring with 10,444 points. That alone should be enough to get his No. 11 in the rafters of the Barclays Center.

There's hope that the Nets won't wait too long to honor Lopez. The Nets are retiring Carter's jersey 16 years after he last played for them in 2009, but Lopez might not need to wait as long considering part of his legacy is in Brooklyn and he has one of the most important records in franchise history.

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