The Brooklyn Nets will honor Vince Carter next season by retiring his number 15 to the rafters at Barclays Center.
Carter’s number 15 will be the sixth number retired in franchise history, after Dražen Petrović, Jason Kidd, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni, Julius Erving and Buck Williams. Bill Russell’s number 6 is retired league-wide.
The Nets surprised Carter with the news by flying to his home in Orlando under the auspices of celebrating his recent election to the 2024 Baseball Hall of Fame class.
After spending the first part of his NBA career with the Toronto Raptors, Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets in December 2004 as part of a deal that sent Alonzo Mourning the other way.
Carter played five seasons in New Jersey and missed just 11 games. Along with Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, the trio helped the Nets reach the second round of the playoffs twice.
A two-time All-Star in his five seasons with the Nets, Carter averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals with the franchise.
Carter was traded to the Orlando Magic in June 2009 and played for five other teams before announcing his retirement in 2020 at age 43.
Over 1,541 games and 22 years, Carter is the only NBA player to play in four different decades.
