University of North Carolina Athletics
Carter Agrees to Six-Year Deal with Raptors
August 2, 2001 | Men's Basketball
Aug 2, 2001
TORONTO (AP) - Vince Carter just couldn't leave his adopted hometown.
Carter, deciding there was no reason to leave a city where he is so comfortable, agreed on Wednesday to a six-year contract extension worth approximately $94 million.
"I feel comfortable here," Carter said. "It's like home. I think Dorothy said there's no place like home, and when I come here, that's what I feel like."
With one year left on his existing deal, the extension should keep the Daytona Beach, Fla., native in Toronto until he is 31. The announcement came on Vince Carter Day, as decreed by Toronto Mayor Mel Lastman.
"I'd hate to take the chance to move elsewhere, and it's not like here where I feel loved and supported. And I've had that here since Day 1," Carter said. "You never know if it's greener on the other side."
Carter led the Raptors into the second round of the playoffs last season and now has a chance to carry them farther now that the Raptors are on the verge of acquiring Hakeem Olajuwon from the Houston Rockets in a sign-and-trade deal.
Olajuwon told the Rockets on Wednesday he no longer wants to play for them. The Rockets agreed to sign and trade him to the Raptors for two draft choices.
"Hakeem's decision is disappointing for the entire Rockets organization," owner Les Alexander told Houston television station KRIV. "Hakeem Olajuwon has meant more to this franchise and this city than any other athlete in Houston history.
"We desperately wanted to keep him in a Rockets uniform for the remainder of his career and made every attempt to do so. It is with a heavy heart that we have agreed to his request."
Raptors general manager Glen Grunwald re-signed three key free agents - Antonio Davis, Jerome Williams and Alvin Williams - to long-term contracts last month, spending more than $140 million on the trio.
"Great things have happened now that we've signed four guys, and I hope that lets the world know that Toronto's trying to contend for a championship and must be a great place also," Carter said.
Until this year, Toronto was considered an undesirable place to play, but Grunwald has ended an exodus that included Damon Stoudamire and Tracy McGrady.
"I'm speechless," said Grunwald, who pumped his fists when Carter thanked him for giving him time to decide. "You couldn't have asked for better news than this. Words can't convey what a great day it is for this franchise, for the city and me personally to have a person like Vince Carter commit to this franchise."
Wednesday was the first day of the three-month window under the NBA's collective bargaining agreement during which the Raptors could negotiate an extension with Carter. If he had not signed an extension by Oct. 31, Carter would have become a restricted free agent next summer.
"I just wanted to get it over with," Carter said. "A lot of fans wanted to know."
Carter, the leading vote-getter for the All-Star game the last two years, said Toronto fans played a part in his decision. He said he couldn't believe his charity basketball game in Toronto on Friday night is a sellout.
"We're selling out a charity game, which is unheard of to me," Carter said. "We sell out the playoffs and games during the regular season. Usually, teams sell out when the Lakers or Sixers come to town, but we sell out when the teams that aren't that good come to town."
Carter's mother, Michelle, knew Carter would stay in Toronto when he purchased a lakefront condo earlier this summer and offered his old one to her.
"I think that was a subconscious thing where he said he really wanted to stay," Michelle said.
