The intense rivalry between North Carolina and Duke is well-known. As the Blue Devils dominate this season’s competition, credit must also be given to former Tar Heels star Vince Carter, an NBA luminary and ex-UNC standout. Carter’s influence resonates with RJ Barrett, the standout freshman for Duke, creating a connection between the two.
Barrett, leading all Duke players with an average of 22.9 points per game, belongs to a wave of Canadian players who grew up idolizing Carter, the former Toronto Raptors icon now with the Atlanta Hawks. Carter’s iconic between-the-legs dunk in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, just four months before Barrett was born, remains a standout moment in basketball history alongside Tracy McGrady.
“Vince and Tracy McGrady were big inspirations for taller, athletic guys like us,” Barrett shared with ESPN. “Seeing Carter excel in the league made us think, ‘Why not me? I resemble him.’ That’s the influence Andrew Wiggins drew from as well. Many others have since followed in his footsteps.”
Canada’s basketball fervor predates the Raptors’ establishment in 1995. However, Carter’s emergence as a prominent American figure after being drafted in 1998 introduced Canadian basketball fans to a revered Sports Center personality, inspiring youth in a country where one-fifth of the population comprises immigrants more drawn to basketball and soccer than hockey.
“I remember walking the streets of Toronto, and back then, you wouldn’t see kids dribbling a basketball like you’d see in the United States—nothing out of the ordinary,” Carter recounted. “But a couple of years later, especially after that [2000] dunk contest, you start seeing kids with basketballs, more courts popping up in the city, more people playing pickup basketball—it just exploded.”
