''The Carter Effect'' is a 2017 documentary directed by Sean Menard. It covers the impact of

Vince Carter Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. (born January 26, 1977) is an American former professional basketball player who serves as a basketball analyst for ESPN. He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, but occasionally played Powe ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...

when he was still playing for the

Toronto Raptors The Toronto Raptors are a Canadian professional basketball team based in Toronto. The Raptors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Eastern Conference Atlantic Division. They play their home games a ...

of the

National Basketball Association The National Basketball Association (NBA) is a professional basketball league in North America. The league is composed of 30 teams (29 in the United States and 1 in Canada) and is one of the major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

(NBA). The film was shown at the 2017

Toronto International Film Festival The Toronto International Film Festival (TIFF, often stylized as tiff) is one of the largest publicly attended film festivals in the world, attracting over 480,000 people annually. Since its founding in 1976, TIFF has grown to become a permane ...

and was produced by

LeBron James LeBron Raymone James Sr. (; born December 30, 1984) is an American professional basketball player for the Los Angeles Lakers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). Nicknamed "King James", he is widely considered one of the greatest p ...

's digital video company, Uninterrupted. Additionally, interviews of fellow NBA stars, former teammates, family members, and people associated with the Toronto Raptors, combined with archival footage of Carter, were used throughout the movie. Notable appearances in the film include his cousin

Tracy McGrady Tracy Lamar McGrady Jr. (born May 24, 1979) is an American former professional basketball player, best known for his career in the National Basketball Association (NBA). McGrady is a seven-time NBA All-Star, seven-time All-NBA selection, two- ...

, Canadian basketball star Steve Nash, former NBA commissioner

David Stern David Joel Stern (September 22, 1942 – January 1, 2020) was an American lawyer and business executive who was the commissioner of the National Basketball Association (NBA) from 1984 to 2014. Stern oversaw NBA basketball's growth into one of t ...

and

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

natives

Director X Julien Christian Lutz (born October 31, 1975), known professionally as Director X, is a Canadian filmmaker, commercial director, music video director, and television director. Having directed more than 100 music videos, he is widely known as a pr ...

and

Drake Drake may refer to: Animals * A male duck People and fictional characters * Drake (surname), a list of people and fictional characters with the family name * Drake (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name * ...

Overview

The film opens with the unveiling of the new NBA expansion team, the Toronto Raptors, one of the two Canadian teams since the

Toronto Huskies The Toronto Huskies were a team in the Basketball Association of America (BAA), which was a forerunner of the National Basketball Association (NBA), during the 1946–47 season. They were based in Toronto. The team compiled a 22–38 win–loss r ...

folded in 1947. In a country dominated by

hockey Hockey is a term used to denote a family of various types of both summer and winter team sports which originated on either an outdoor field, sheet of ice, or dry floor such as in a gymnasium. While these sports vary in specific rules, numbers o ...

, basketball tries to find its way to the hearts of Canadian families.

shares how he struggled as an 18-year old rookie out of high school to be living in Toronto and not having someone near his age to be around with. During the 1998 NBA Draft in

Vancouver Vancouver ( ) is a major city in western Canada, located in the Lower Mainland region of British Columbia. As the List of cities in British Columbia, most populous city in the province, the 2021 Canadian census recorded 662,248 people in the ...

, the Toronto Raptors select Carter's college teammate, Antawn Jamison, with Carter being selected next by the

Golden State Warriors The Golden State Warriors are an American professional basketball team based in San Francisco. The Warriors compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. Founded in 194 ...

before

announces the trade between Carter and Jamison. Carter announces his excitement in playing for Toronto with his cousin McGrady. Carter and McGrady form a bond and is becoming one of the best young duo in the NBA. Carter and McGrady retell the story of how they almost did not make it to the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest and how Carter have forced McGrady to join him in competing despite McGrady knowing Carter is going to win anyway. Carter impresses and becomes the 2000 Slam Dunk Champion. This made people talk about Carter and the Raptors more as Canadians become prouder of having the Raptors as their team. With

Nike Nike often refers to: * Nike (mythology), a Greek goddess who personifies victory * Nike, Inc., a major American producer of athletic shoes, apparel, and sports equipment Nike may also refer to: People * Nike (name), a surname and feminine give ...

signing Carter to an endorsement deal, it catapulted the sneaker industry in Toronto. Carter starts to leave his footprint in the Toronto area, opening a

nightclub A nightclub (music club, discothèque, disco club, or simply club) is an entertainment venue during nighttime comprising a dance floor, lightshow, and a stage for live music or a disc jockey (DJ) who plays recorded music. Nightclubs gener ...

where NBA players can go to when in town, inaugurating a basketball court, getting companies to endorse in basketball in Canada. The Raptors finally lands a spot on national TV against the Phoenix Suns, they win the game and Carter was phenomenal. The Raptors reach the NBA playoffs for the first time in franchise history but lose to the New York Knicks. This marks the last time McGrady and Carter play together as McGrady leaves for the Orlando Magic during the off-season. Controversy surrounds Carter during the Conference Semifinals at the 2001 NBA Playoffs when Carter attends his graduation ceremony at

University of North Carolina The University of North Carolina is the multi-campus public university system for the state of North Carolina. Overseeing the state's 16 public universities and the NC School of Science and Mathematics, it is commonly referred to as the UNC Sy ...

in the morning of Game 7 against the Philadelphia 76ers. Carter misses a potential game-winning shot and the 76ers advance to the Conference Finals. During the 2001 NBA off-season, Carter announces his contract extension with the Raptors. He hosts a charity game, partly to showcase to other players what the city of Toronto really has to offer even during the summer. The CEO of

Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Maple Leaf Sports & Entertainment Ltd. (MLSE) is a professional sports and commercial real estate company based in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. With assets that include franchises in four of the six major professional sports leagues in the United S ...

Richard Peddie Richard A. Peddie (born January 1947) is a Canadian businessman. He is the former president and CEO of Maple Leafs Sports and Entertainment. Career Peddie was president and CEO of SkyDome from August 1989 to 1994. In 1993, he took a leave of a ...

, hires Rob Babcock as the new

general manager A general manager (GM) is an executive who has overall responsibility for managing both the revenue and cost elements of a company's income statement, known as profit & loss (P&L) responsibility. A general manager usually oversees most or all of ...

. Injuries start to haunt Carter at the same time he begins to feel the new management is going in a different direction. Carter gets traded to the

New Jersey Nets New is an adjective referring to something recently made, discovered, or created. New or NEW may refer to: Music * New, singer of K-pop group The Boyz Albums and EPs * ''New'' (album), by Paul McCartney, 2013 * ''New'' (EP), by Regurgitator, ...

. Fans felt Carter wanted out, on his return game, they showered Carter with boos as the announcer introduces him as well as every time he touches the ball. It has been like that until about 10 years later, with the Raptors celebrating their 20th season anniversary, they have been playing tribute videos during home games. When Carter's team, the

Memphis Grizzlies The Memphis Grizzlies (referred to locally as the Grizz) are an American professional basketball team based in Memphis, Tennessee. The Grizzlies compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA) as a member of the league's Western Conference ...

, visited, a video tribute of Carter played and the fans start to give him a standing ovation that gets Carter to tears. A wave of Canadian players start to make some noise in the NBA and the rise is being attributed to Carter's influence in the Canadian basketball scene. Canadian entertainers feel that Carter opened up opportunities for them. More and more Canadian fans are now embracing basketball and Raptors as

voices out that he respects how the fans support their team. The film ends with

asking "What if?" Carter never played for the Raptors.

Release

The film was initially released on September 9, 2017 in

at the 2017

. It was also released in the United States on April 13, 2018 at the

Cleveland International Film Festival The Cleveland International Film Festival (CIFF) is an annual film festival based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is the largest film festival in Ohio. It was first held in 1977, showing eight films over a period of eight weeks at the Cedar Lee Theatre. ...

and on April 23, 2018 at the

RiverRun International Film Festival The RiverRun International Film Festival is an annual Oscar-qualifying film festival held each spring in Winston-Salem, North Carolina. The festival is a 501(c)3 non-profit organization and presents a variety of feature-length and short films fro ...

. It was made available through

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

on May 1, 2018.

Critical response

The film received an unfavorable review from critic Radheyan Simonpillai of

NOW Now most commonly refers to the present time. Now, NOW, or The Now may also refer to: Organizations * Natal Organisation of Women, a South African women's organization * National Organization for Women, an American feminist organization * Now ...

, "To fill out its run time and over-emphasize its point that

ince Ince may refer to: *Ince, Cheshire, a village in Cheshire, UK *Ince-in-Makerfield in the Metropolitan Borough of Wigan, UK *Ince (UK Parliament constituency), a former constituency covering Ince-in-Makerfield *Ince (ward), an electoral ward covering ...

Carter put Toronto on the map not just in basketball but hip-hop culture, the film starts fumbling with facts."

References

External links

* * {{DEFAULTSORT:Carter Effect, The 2017 films 2017 documentary films Documentary films about basketball American sports documentary films Canadian sports documentary films Canadian basketball films Black Canadian films 2010s English-language films 2010s Canadian films 2010s American films