TORONTO

Like it or not Raptors fans (and many of you won't), the Raptors will play a video on Wednesday night looking back at Vince Carter's time in Toronto.

Carter will be in town with the Memphis Grizzlies, making his only appearance in Canada this season.

Throughout the year, the Raptors will be running videos on the scoreboard to commemorate the 20-year history of the franchise.

Last week, long-time television play-by-play man Chuck Swirsky was honoured when the Chicago Bulls were here and former Raptors stars Alvin Williams and Antonio Davis also were celebrated recently during the first of what will be several “Flashback Friday” contests.

Whether or not the Raptors should honour Carter, widely regarded as the best player in franchise history, has long been debated.

Carter made five all-star appearances as a Raptor, was the 1998-99 NBA rookie of the year and made the all-NBA team twice (including the 2nd team in 2000-01, something only Chris Bosh has done as well as a Raptor), putting the franchise on the map worldwide as arguably the league's most popular player. He is the all-time leader in points per game, second in total points, third in minutes played and near the top in a multitude of categories.

But he also missed the biggest shot in franchise history (against Philadelphia in the seventh game of the second round of the playoffs), had issues with management, stopped playing his hardest during the end of his days as a Raptor, asked for – and then rescinded – a trade, which resulted in the worst deal in Raptors history, just shy of a decade ago (Dec. 17, 2004).

Carter averaged 15.9 points a game in his final 20 games in Toronto, then 27.5 a night in that season's final 57 games with New Jersey. He went on to win three NBA player of the month awards with the Nets, something he never managed as a Raptor and has never apologized for his role in the breakdown of his Toronto tenure.

Speaking before the team announced that Carter would be recognized on Wednesday, current Raptors all-star DeMar DeRozan said it would be well-deserved, but it would probably be best to wait until Carter retired.

“I think it would be better once he's done, because you still get the boos, you still get the mixed emotions when he comes here playing with another team,” DeRozan said.

“It would be best when he's done. When it's all said and done, everyone can realize everything that he's done for the city. It should be fun, it's always fun when he's here.”