Nets to retire Vince Carter's No. 15 jersey
The Nets' Vince Carter shoots a jump shot over the Pacers' Fred Jones in the fourth quarter of their NBA first-round playoff game at the Continental Airlines Arena East Rutherford, N.J., on April 25, 2006. Credit: Newsday Staff/J. Conrad Williams Jr.
Vince Carter will be enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame later this year. He’ll also be the latest Nets player to have his jersey retired.
The Nets announced Wednesday that Carter’s No. 15 will be raised to the rafters at Barclays Center next season. He’s the seventh player in franchise history to have his number retired and the first since former teammate Jason Kidd in 2013.
The team made the announcement with a video featuring Carter watching highlights of his Nets career. Kidd, now the Mavericks coach, also sent a video congratulating Carter as "one of my best teammates in New Jersey" who helped make the game easy.
While the Nets didn't announce when the ceremony will be, their video revealed Carter's number will hang next to Kidd's.
After being traded from the Raptors during the 2004-05 season, Carter spent five seasons in New Jersey and played 374 games, his second-longest tenure with a team behind Toronto. During that time, he averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 4.7 assists while making three All-Star teams with the Nets.
"For me to get that opportunity again, to be a part of a franchise, be a go-to-guy, it was a breath of fresh air," Carter said in the video. "It was fun to play with [Kidd] because he made the game easy for me, so it's pretty dope. It's forever up there. It's Nets, 15 Carter, can't use it again. Doesn't get any better than that."
Carter also holds the franchise record for most points in a season with 2,070 in 2006-07 and is the third-leading scorer in franchise history with 8,834 points. He also joined the YES Network this past season as an analyst for several Nets games.
In addition to Kidd and Carter, the Nets have also retired numbers for Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni, Julius Erving and Buck Williams.
Carter, who played an NBA-record 22 seasons, will be inducted into the Hall of Fame on Aug. 17 in Springfield, Mass. He’s part of a class that includes Chauncey Billups, Michael Cooper, and former Knicks guard Dick Barnett.
Evan Barnes covers the Nets for Newsday. He previously covered Memphis football and the Memphis Grizzlies and also covered prep sports in Los Angeles.
