"I don't see him staying in Toronto" - Tracy McGrady on the rumors he was jealous of Vince Carter
The Toronto Raptors had the opportunity to take the league by storm with Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady on the roster. However, their partnership ended almost immediately after it started. In the 2000 offseason, two years after the franchise drafted Carter, McGrady left town to play for the Orlando Magic.
Rumors were rife at the time that McGrady had grown jealous of Carter and got tired of playing in his cousin's shadow. In an interview with SLAM sometime after officially joining the Magic, T-Mac refuted those reports, saying he and VC had fun playing alongside one another and that it wouldn't have been long anyway until his former teammate also bid farewell to Toronto.
"Vince only has another two years on his deal," told SLAM in 2000. "And once they're up, I don't see him staying in Toronto. Just for the type of player that he is, he has to go to a bigger market. That means that I would have been there by myself. And I wasn't going to let that happen."
McGrady's prediction was off by two years
As T-Mac anticipated, "Vinsanity" did make an exit from the Raptors, but not in the same way he had expected. Instead of becoming a free agent in 2002, Carter averted that by signing a contract extension in 2001. He argued that he felt loved and supported in Toronto at the time.
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Moreover, the fact that the Raptors were a field goal away from reaching the 2001 Eastern Conference Finals had the eight-time All-Star excited about the team's outlook. Carter had the chance to lift Toronto to a series victory over the Philadelphia 76ers in the conference semifinals. But he couldn't punctuate his memorable duel versus Allen Iverson with a game-winner in Game 7, resulting in the Sixers' escaping with an 88-87 win and taking the series 4-3.
Little did Vince know that he wouldn't be able to play out the entirety of his contract with the Raptors. In the 2004 offseason, he realized he wanted out after the team missed the previous playoffs and let go of many of its front office and coaching staff.
Carter's trade request wasn't immediately met, and by the time the regular season started, he was still in a Raptors uniform. Vince was shipped to the New Jersey Nets, but not before he made 20 appearances for Toronto, protested by not playing up to par and even avoiding dunking during contests, and burned bridges with some part of the fan base.
Raptors legacies
Evidently, Tracy's exit from Toronto was much more peaceful, albeit a bit more surprising. Even so, both retired stars had to endure being despised by a part of the Raptors faithful. Some even brought the duo up when the team won its maiden NBA title in 2019.
However, a significant chunk of the fan base has already forgiven T-Mac and VC. Both have been cheered on by the crowd in a few of their appearances at Air Canada Centre/Scotiabank Arena sometime after they bolted the franchise.
