Back to Latest NewsBROOKLYN – The Brooklyn Nets will honor the career and Nets’ legacy of NBA legend Vince Carter with the retirement of his number 15 jersey in a ceremony on Saturday, Jan. 25, 2025, during a 6 p.m. matchup with the Miami Heat at Barclays Center.
This marks the seventh jersey retirement in franchise history, with Carter’s number 15 set to join Dražen Petrović (#3), Jason Kidd (#5), John Williamson (#23), Bill Melchionni (#25), Julius Erving (#32) and Charles “Buck” Williams (#52) in the Barclays Center rafters. Tickets for the Jan. 25 game are available now at brooklynnets.com/tickets. Special programming and further details related to the event will be announced at a later date.
“We are thrilled to honor former Nets player Vince Carter, who contributed so much to this organization both on and off the court,” said Nets Governor Joe Tsai. “He is an important part of the Nets franchise history and we look forward to welcoming him to Barclays Center this season to celebrate his legacy.”
Carter’s five seasons (2004-09) in New Jersey accounted for the best statistical stretch of his career, as he posted his highest averages in points, rebounds and assists in a Nets uniform. In 374 games as a Net, Carter averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds, 4.7 assists and 1.2 steals over 37.9 minutes per contest. He earned three consecutive All-Star game appearances (2005-07), including a pair of starts, joining Kidd and Williams as the only players to represent the Nets three or more times in NBA All-Star Game history. Carter ranks third in Nets history in total points (8,834) and holds the two highest-scoring seasons in the team’s NBA record books, including the only 2,000-point campaign (2,070 points in 2006-07). The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame electee holds the team’s NBA record for career 30-point (90) and 40-point games (17) and is still ranked in the top 10 in various statistical categories, including field goals made (3,126 – third), 3-pointers made (638 – fourth), free throws made (1,944 – fourth), assists (1,762 – sixth) and minutes played (14,157 – seventh). He led the team in scoring average three times (2004-07) and finished in the top 10 in the NBA in scoring twice as a Net (eighth in 2004-05 and 2006-07).
The Daytona Beach, Fla., native helped lead the Nets to three playoff berths, including a pair of runs to the Eastern Conference Semifinals (2006 and 2007). Carter has the second-best postseason scoring average (26.0) and the fourth-most total points (701) in the franchise’s NBA postseason history. He was named the NBA’s Eastern Conference Player of the Month three times (Feb. 2005, Dec. 2005, April 2007) during his New Jersey tenure.
Carter is set to be enshrined in the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame as a member of the Class of 2024 in Springfield, Mass., this October. In total, Carter played 22 NBA seasons (1998-2020) with Toronto, New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis, Sacramento and Atlanta and held career averages of 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds, 3.1 assists and 1.0 steals in 30.1 minutes per contest spread over 1,541 games (983 starts). The eight-time All-Star is the first player in league history to play 22 or more seasons. He has played in the third-most games in NBA history, trailing only Hall of Fame inductees Robert Parish and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and is one of 10 players in league history to record at least 25,000 points, 5,000 rebounds and 1,500 steals. Carter also represented the United States at the 2000 Summer Olympic Games in Sydney, Australia, where he scored a team-leading 118 points over eight games to lead the American squad to a gold medal.
Prior to his illustrious professional career, Carter attended the University of North Carolina for three years (1995-98), where he earned a First Team All-America selection in 1998 and led the Tar Heels to consecutive Atlantic Coast Conference titles and NCAA Tournament Final Fours (1997 and 1998). Carter entered the 1998 NBA Draft and was selected fifth overall by the Golden State Warriors before his draft rights were traded to the Toronto Raptors. He attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach and achieved Florida Mr. Basketball honors in 1994 and McDonald’s All-America accolades as a senior in 1995.
