Jalen Rose will be celebrated tonight as part of the 20th anniversary celebrations (where the Raptors will be wearing purple again). He was on TSN 1050 talking about tonight, and reminiscing:

Summary:

Not sure if he’s going to get a video tribute or the “politicians handwave” – says he has no idea, nobody told him anything

Asked about Vince’s crying and whether he’ll cry, said Vince’s situation was a lot different than his, and he’s the “All-Time Greatest Raptor” and those tears will not be replicated tonight

Says his best friends on the team were Mo Pete, Chris Bosh, Vince Carter, and he used to teach Bosh about how to use his left hand.

Could Vince Carter have been more? “Vince never had the opportunity to play with guys like Shaq or coaches like Phil Jackson”

What’s your favorite memories from King St. (which they mentioned on the Grantland podcast)? “Lots of speakeasies, bars, restaurants, clubs….shopping at Yorkville”

Asked about Dirk taking paycut, and Kobe taking the money: Kobe already has five titles and it’s OK to get the “honeymoon package”, but Dirk only has one so he’s still working on more

He got asked some question about Rick Ross and Black Bottle Boys. I’m too old to comment on this

Never drank wine before 40, now it’s his favorite. Red wine, that is

Refers to Toronto as “The 6”

Is it weird that my lasting memory of Jalen Rose is him playing against the Raptors and having some serious duels with Vince Carter? He wasn’t really part of the two playoff runs that we had in the Carter years, and very much came in when things were going south.

When Carter, Doneyll Marshall, and Rose joined forces, I recall the Raptors winning five straight games around Christmas time in 2003-04, but things soon fell apart under Kevin O’Neill. Still, though, he was alright.