Former Raptors Legend Joins Sportsnet Broadcast For Select Games

Former Toronto Raptors legend Vince Carter will join Sportsnet to broadcast select games this season

Oct 13, 2024; Uncasville, Conn, USA; Class of 2024 inductee Vince Carter speaks during the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame Enshrinement at Symphony Hall Springfield. Mandatory Credit: David Butler II-Imagn Images / David Butler II-Imagn Images

Vince Carter is joining Sportsnet.

The former Toronto Raptors legend is going to be part of Sportsnet's Raptors coverage this season for select games, the network announced Tuesday. He'll broadcast the team's season opener on Oct. 23 against the Cleveland Cavaliers and periodically join Matt Devlin and Alvin Williams on the call throughout the year.

"My NBA roots started with the Raptors and the relationships I forged with former teammates like Alvin Williams. It is humbling to have the opporunity to come back," Carter said in a press release from Sportsnet. "I am truly looking forward to being a part of the broadcasts."

The Raptors are honoring Carter this season as part of the organization's 30th anniversary season. He'll have his No. 15 jersey retired on Nov. 2 when DeMar DeRozan and the Sacramento Kings come to town. The honor makes him the first player in franchise history to have his jersey retired.

Carter was inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame earlier this month as he entered the Hall as a member of the Raptors organization. The 47-year-old spent the first six and a half seasons of his career in Toronto after the organization traded for his draft rights during the 1998 draft. He became the Raptors' first NBA superstar, earning five All-Star game appearances with Toronto and twice leading the organization to playoff berths.

His tenure in Toronto came to an unfortunate end in 2004 when he was dealt to the New Jersey Nets in one of the worst trades in franchise history. The deal and Carter's comments both before and after the trade turned Raptors fans against Carter who was relentlessly booed whenever he returned to Toronto.