Masai Ujiri Shares His Thoughts on Vince Carter's Legacy with the Raptors

The Toronto Raptors have a 'secret' plan to honor Vince Carter as he heads into the Hall of Fame this summer

The Toronto Raptors have something planned for Vince Carter.

What exactly that is, well, nobody wants to say.

“It’s a secret,” Raptors president Masai Ujiri said Wednesday with a smirk.

Carter will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame this summer following his 22-year NBA career that included the better part of seven seasons in Toronto. He’s said he’d like to be inducted as a member of the Raptors organization and it seems like Toronto is ready to embrace the former franchise icon.

“Love him, he’s the best,” Ujiri said. “Like everything else, just like we're going through here, (he) had ups and downs maybe when he when he left here, but I think what Vince has done as a player not only the length of his career but how he's carried himself. …  I didn't know too much of what went on here, but I know everybody's moving on. And I hope the fans can and we can embrace an unbelievable player that really set a tone and set a pathway for all of us to be where we are today.”

Carter’s legacy in Toronto has always been complicated by the way he left in 2004. His effort level dipped toward the end as his relationship with the organization soured before Toronto finally traded him to the New Jersey Nets in one of the most lopsided deals in franchise history.

For years, Carter was booed when he returned to Toronto. Fans carried signs criticizing Carter who bounced right back to his All-Star level once he joined New Jersey.

More recently, though, Toronto has welcomed Carter back into the fold. He was cheered earlier this year when he returned to the city as a broadcaster for TNT and the expectation is the organization will do something big in its 30th season to honor Carter.

For now, though, we’ll just have to wait to find out what.