PHILADELPHIA – Vince Carter touched down in a private jet here yesterday morning and was at the Raptors’ team hotel shortly after noon.
And for that, Toronto coach Lenny Wilkens breathed a massive sigh of relief.
“The only thing I worried about was weather or the flight and that’s natural because I’m a coach,” said Wilkens of the controversial decision by Carter to attend morning graduation ceremonies at the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill and then join his team for an 88-87, Game 7 loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals against the Sixers. “But he got here in plenty of time, he was at our afternoon meeting he did our walk through so it was fine.”
Carter left himself open to criticism and scrutiny about his call to pick up his diploma for his degree in African-American studies. By arrangement with the university, Carter received his diploma at the start of the ceremony, about 10 a.m. He then flew back on Toronto owner Larry Tannenbaum’s private jet.
“I don’t care,” Carter said about leaving himself open to second-guessing. “In my mind, I’m accomplishing two things. It’s the biggest game and it’s the biggest thing in my life and that’s to graduate. I got my degree and I have a chance to beat the top team in the East.”
Publicly, the Raptors supported Carter’s choice – especially after he arrived in ample time for the 5:30 p.m. start.
“The fact of the matter is guys do have lives outside of basketball and that’s a very important aspect of it,” said Raptor teammate and fellow UNC product Eric Montross.
“There’s a lot more talk than distraction,” Wilkens said. “Everybody will do things differently, but as a franchise we support Vince. I personally think it’s neat that he sends a great message out there that he wanted to go back and get his degree.”
The Raptors issued a statement in support of Carter. The statement said the “organization is proud of Vince’s academic accomplishments and congratulates him” and noted Carter’s choice “was supported by the franchise.”