Hot News: Kelly: Vince Carter is not a bad guy, but by the end he was a bad Raptor

Though he's still prodigal, the Raptors honoured their ambivalent son during Wednesday's game against the Memphis Grizzlies.

Vince Carter was on the Grizzlies bench when a video tribute to him began. There were a few boos, quickly drowned out by cheers.

Up on the scoreboard, Carter said a few words no one could hear. By the end, everyone had got grudgingly to their feet. More Related to this Story



The Canadian Press Video

Video

The Toronto Raptors made a special appearance at Vancouver's Strathcona Community Center. Point guard Kyle Lowry helped cut the ribbon on the new basketball court saying it was great to give back to the community. CP Video Video

Carter acknowledged the ovation from the floor, tapping his heart. He began to weep. It was a sweet moment.

A few minutes later, he entered the game and got his first touch on the ball. The crowd roundly jeered him.

Oh, Toronto. You are changeable. I like you better the second way.

The Raptors are in the midst of redefining themselves. They aren't the sorriest franchise in the NBA any more. Yet they insist on reaching back into the slow-motion car crash of their history, trying to tease out meaning.

Sure, it's their 20th anniversary. But in all things, I think in terms of WWYD: What Would the Yankees Do? The Yankees would not honour someone still wearing enemy colours in their own house, no matter how beloved.

Before the planned tribute was announced, DeMar DeRozan gently and rightly rubbished the idea.

'I think [a tribute] would be better once [Carter's] done because you still get the boos and the mixed emotions when he comes here to play with another team,' DeRozan said Tuesday. 'So I think it would be best when he's done.'

This isn't Carter's fault. Not really. Like a lot of bad boyfriends, Carter isn't quite sure how to tell Toronto they're breaking up. He wants to - because he already did it - but he can't keep saying the words.

So he's spent the past few years pretending his time in Toronto was the Summer Love period of his life. Tellingly, he only does that when he's up here.

Like the other type of bad boyfriend, Toronto keeps purposely misreading the signals: 'Oh, you don't want to be together any more? Sure, sure. We understand. Just go with me to one last video tribute, and then you can decide.' Ahead of the game, Carter took the strange step of denying he knew about the well-choreographed ceremony.

'I found out through the radio, when I did the interview [on FAN590],' Carter said. 'I was like, 'Aw, you spoiled it. Maybe it was supposed to be a surprise.''

No. It wasn't. The Raptors asked him. He signed off on it. Faced with its imminence, he washed his hands of it. He seemed to be worried it would boomerang on him.

'I'm okay with it,' Carter said, not sounding like a person who was okay with it. 'Just go through it. Enjoy the moment, regardless.'

Regardless.

Whatever he feared didn't happen. Having been manipulated into cheering the opposition, the ACC crowd gave in to the moment. What else could they do?

Carter has never been a bad guy. That's not the issue. The issue is that, by the end, he was a bad Raptor.

No matter how much revisionism we exercise on this subject, the basic fact is that Carter gave up on this team. He engineered the fallout with management. Three years on, he was still the knucklehead who decided to fly to his college graduation ahead of the biggest game of his career. He was an undeniably great performer, and a so-so teammate.

Even in his athletic dotage, he retains that odd combination of genuine charm and spasmodic denialism. He'll tell you he takes the blame, but nothing's ever really been his fault.

It's a very human trait, one that's amplified in professional athletes.

What makes it weird is Toronto's tortured insistence on wrenching some sort of dramatic reconciliation out of this guy. 'Tell us you didn't mean it, Vince.' It smacks of desperation.

Right now, Carter's on a very good team. This may be his last chance to win a championship. All that good feeling bled slowly off during the game, as the Grizzlies gave Toronto a beating on the boards. By the end, the grumbles were getting louder every time Carter touched the ball.

He was out there doing what old pros do - looking to embarrass their former teams. This is not a guy who spends his off days lying in bed with his feet twirling in air, dreamily turning the pages of a photo album titled 'VC (Hearts) Toronto.' He's still got his pride.

He was an epochal player in this town, and he's gone. Why can't that be enough for us?

This needy streak in the Raptors organization will continue throughout the year. We're still left wondering if Chris Bosh wants the Carter treatment in March.

More imminently, what happens when the New York Knicks roll through in December?

Given the way he carried himself in this city, Jose Calderon deserves more consideration from this organization than either Carter or Bosh.

But are the Raptors going to honour Andrea Bargnani as well? He is among the team's career leaders in a bunch of categories. How will that montage look? I'd suggest a series of shots of Bargnani sleeping in the trainers' room on a bed made of money.

One really does wonder if the fans will play ball again on that evening. One very much doubts it. Maybe somebody should stick a baby in Bargnani's hands before they put him on the big screen. For protection.

It's too late to stop this wrong-headed, year-long stagger down memory lane.

One can only hope that after this season, the Raptors begin to concentrate on their promising present, and give up trying to rewrite their inglorious past.

Follow on Twitter: @cathalkelly

Post By http://www.theglobeandmail.com/sports/basketball/kelly-vince-carter-is-not-a-bad-guy-but-in-the-end-he-was-a-bad-raptor/article21664728/