Vince Carter's impact on Canadian basketball celebrated in new documentary
Vince Carter has had an undeniable impact on basketball in Canada.
Early in his career as a Toronto Raptor, which began after a surprising trade at the 1998 NBA draft, “Vinsanity” captivated the nation in an unprecedented way. With his thrilling dunks and electrifying buzzer-beaters, Carter became the face of a team that was in its infancy, having began play as an expansion franchise only three years earlier.
VC’s dazzling display on the hardwood, coupled with youth basketball camps he held in the Greater Toronto Area, inspired a bumper crop of pioneering Canadian-born hoop stars that have been steadily entering the Association in recent years.
Cory Joseph is one of them - and that’s why it made sense for him to be interviewed for Sean Menard’s new documentary "The Carter Effect", which will premiere at the Toronto International Film Festival on Saturday.
“I knew it was a matter of time before a film was made,” the Indiana Pacers guard told theScore in a phone interview from Indianapolis. “His impact is something that can’t be overlooked.”
Born into a basketball family, Joseph, 26, grew up in the Toronto suburb of Pickering with dreams of making it to the NBA. Having a superstar baller he could watch and study regularly on TV or in person as a fan helped eventually steer him to the big-time.
Joseph was a late first-round selection of the San Antonio Spurs in 2011 and signed with the Raptors in 2015 as a free agent. He was dealt to the Pacers this offseason.
“I think the effect he had is why you see a lot of Canadian basketball players in the NBA today,” Joseph said after working out with his new team for the first time on Wednesday. “The camps that he held that inspired so many kids to pick up basketball, the belief he instilled in a lot of kids that they could make it to the NBA, it was huge for the country.
"To have a special talent like that in the city and being able to watch him on a game-to-game basis, it was huge for my development.”
Joseph is one of several Canadian NBA players - Kelly Olynyk, Nik Stauskas, and Tristan Thompson among them - that are featured in the hour-long film. Menard was inspired to make the documentary while gazing over Jurassic Park - the ravenous fan zone outside of the Air Canada Centre which pulsed with energy and excitement as the Raptors made consecutive deep playoff runs in 2016 and 2017.
As a lifelong fan drawn to the Raptors by No. 15, he asked himself a simple question: How did we get here?
“Opening with the Raptors franchise being a joke to where they are now, let’s fill in the gap,” he remembers thinking. “A lot of that reason is Vince Carter.”
The project began as a treatment submitted a year ago to Uninterrupted, a sports-based production company founded by LeBron James and Maverick Carter. Menard, 32, had worked with Uninterrupted on his debut feature "Fight Mom" (2016), about a female MMA fighter.
Through his relationship with James, Drake was asked to be interviewed for The Carter Effect but then further aligned himself with the project, joining as a fellow executive producer. The actor-turned-rap star felt a personal connection to the story, growing up a Carter fan and later becoming the Raptors' global ambassador.
Deep pockets allowed Menard to acquire hours of expensive archival footage which he employs well to give the documentary historic context and fits nicely with compelling interview subjects such as former Raptors GM Glen Grunwald, Canadian hip-hop pioneer Kardinal Offishal, and journalists Michael Grange and Chris Young.
The film is edited splendidly by Menard, creating a good pace - but key moments of Carter's tenure in Toronto aren't given the treatment they probably deserve. First and foremost, Carter’s culpability in an acrimonious departure - culminating in his lopsided trade to the New Jersey Nets in December 2004 - is completely glossed over.
Former MLSE executive Richard Peddie acknowledges that hiring inexperienced GM Rob Babcock, the source of the friction, was a mistake - but there is failure to explore Carter’s own mishandling of the tumultuous situation, both on and off the court.
Moreover, addressing Carter’s loaded interview with John Thompson which aired on TNT shortly after the trade - in which he stated he had not always given his best effort for the Raptors - would have served the audience well had it been included in some way.
“To the die-hard sports fans, they might want those answers,” Menard said. “I want people that aren’t necessarily a die-hard basketball fan to be able to watch that and see how a player can come up from the United States to Canada and change the culture.“
(Photos courtesy: Getty Images)