To celebrate the Toronto Raptors’ 30th anniversary, Esfandiar Baraheni is delving into the stories that made the franchise what it is today. Each month, Es will unpack one story from Raptors’ history that helps honour and shed light on the team we’ve all grown to love. Some stories will be heartbreakers, others triumphs. This one will be on The Vince Carter Effect and how it permeates across the fanbase today.
Forgiveness is a tricky thing to come by, especially in sports.
Fans don’t tend to be forgiving of mistakes, missed shots, or poor decisions.
They tend to hold grudges over bad breakups, clinging onto the idea of loyalty in a professional game to the point where stans exist now, a culture created by a deep desire to try and get closer to athletes while feeling like you, the stan, understand their specific point of view.
Almost none of that highly online behavior existed when Vince Carter was a Toronto Raptor, but boy, there was still tons of bad blood.
The city of Toronto and its basketball fans held contempt for their once-beloved superstar for a decade.
But now… 20 years later, the Raptors are honoring Carter significantly by making him the first player to have his jersey retired.
#15 is going up in the rafters, and while most have learned to forgive, forget, and embrace… there are people out there who are still on the fence.
But by not forgiving Carter, you are depriving yourself of the opportunity to celebrate something genuinely great… you’re clinging onto a stigma that this franchise wants to move past.
So, let me attempt to convince you… in this film room.
If you’d like to learn more about Vince Carter, the Raptors, and what Esfandiar notices tactically for each Raptors game, check out the Raptors YouTube channel for more videos and subscribe to stay up-to-date on the latest.
The post Raptors Film Room: The Real Vince Carter Effect first appeared on Raptors Republic.
