To rejoice Vince Carter‘s election into the Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend, the Toronto Raptors released a new graphic honouring the man who was largely responsible for putting the Raptors on the map in the NBA.
The graphic is an epic throwback to the franchise’s early days, to Carter’s first years in Toronto. It reveals the purple raptor dinosaur, which was each a part of the original Toronto Raptors logo and the first Raptors uniform (which Vince wore in his rookie season), performing Carter’s legendary dunk from the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk contest. The dinosaur is proven sporting the same purple and black Raptors uniform style that Carter wore when he pulled off the stunt, the identical because the membership’s highway look from 2000 to 2006. This general design has been trimmed in gold, which wasn’t current on the unique emblem.
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Followers instantly fell in love with this design, with response on the socials in near-universal reward, many calling for this type to return to the Raptors full-time:
After all, there have been a number of on the market who keep in mind how this general emblem and uniform look was perceived when it was truly worn, which was not constructive:
Folks actually do not keep in mind how the group was eviscerated for having this as their authentic emblem again within the 90s?
— RANGERS ARE WORLD CHAMPIONS (@RowdyCMoore) April 7, 2024
They’re completely proper. I despised the unique Raptors uniform on the time, despite the fact that I used to be a 12-year-old from Toronto, which was the precise demo this entire package deal was created for. After all, nostalgia is a strong beast; right here in 2024, now as a man in his 40s (wait, when did *that* occur?), I might like to see the Raptors return to purple full-time with a modernized model of the unique Raptors jersey, maybe worn often as an alternate choice.
LINK: Toronto Raptors complete logo and uniform history
LINK: Vince Carter’s complete career logo and uniform history
For what it’s value, I noticed this emblem making the rounds behind the scenes as early as three months in the past. The rumblings on the time advised this graphic was made both for the Raptors 2024/25 Metropolis Version uniform or to be launched alongside a throwback uniform to rejoice the membership’s thirtieth season.
Sadly, I can not verify that this emblem or the 2000-2006 uniform will likely be used in-game subsequent season (my hunch is the membership will put on the uniform as a throwback), however I *can* a minimum of verify that this Raptor/Vince Carter dunk emblem will likely be featured on Raptors merchandise someday between now and subsequent season. So, I gotta say that’s signal that we’ll see it on the courtroom in some trend.
