Vince and his mom back Dr. J
Just hire someone, `restless' star says

DAVE FESCHUK

As the Raptors' long off-season drags on, the key dates keep coming. Tonight's NBA draft lottery, wherein Toronto has a 3.7 per cent chance of landing the first pick, is four weeks and a day from the June 24 entry draft.

And Vince Carter, for one, is getting antsy. With the club's search for a general manager rolling into its eighth fruitless week — with the process, once discussed openly by club CEO Richard Peddie, suddenly cloaked in secrecy — Carter has made no secret of the man he's backing for the job. He's partial to a hall of fame player best known as Dr. J, Carter's childhood hero Julius Erving. But Carter is especially emphatic about hiring someone — anyone — soon

"It kind of makes me nervous, man. You kind of get restless," said Carter yesterday after he took the stage at Dundas Square to announce the July 30 tipoff of his fourth annual charity all-star game. "Time is winding down ...

"If they feel that (Erving's) not the one, well then he's not the one. But I think now it's time to really buckle down and find somebody. Because this affects the whole summer. Without having a GM in place, or a coach, or both ... you need to collaborate on who we're drafting, what we're going after, free agents — you don't really have anybody to go after these guys."

Add to the GM's to-do list the hiring of a coach and the complete remanning of a woeful scouting staff and Carter's sense of urgency is understandable, even commendable, especially since it stands in stark contrast to the deadpanned "just-another-game" refrain he's been spouting for most of his Toronto career.

His desire for a speedy and competent hire may or may not be shared, mind you, by Larry Tanenbaum, the club's minority owner and chairman of the board of Maple Leaf Sports and Entertainment.

"We're not putting any time frame on it," said Tanenbaum after he offered Carter a hearty hug and a few whispered words. "All we're saying is we're going to get the best guy to be the GM here. So let's just wait and see how it works out."

Carter has his own busy schedule to keep these days. He's building a 30,000-square-foot mansion complete with a regulation-sized basketball court in Isleworth, the Florida gated community Tiger Woods calls home, and on July 3 he'll wed his college sweetheart, Dr. Ellen Rucker, in Palm Beach, Fla.

So for those who've long suggested the injury-plagued all-star might be well served to keep a more disciplined summer workout schedule ... well, maybe next year.

You can argue that Carter is as responsible for the club's woes as anyone in management, past or present.

But you have to give him credit for acknowledging reality yesterday. He said the Raptors, who've missed the playoffs the past two seasons by winning a combined 57 games, are in "a vulnerable situation.

"We're on the bottom, but at the same time, we can really go into the tank. We could be like some of these other teams in the league that can't get it going, can't win 12 or 13 games a year. I can't live with that."

Carter said he could happily co-exist with Erving because "he brings credibility and a lot of great things to this organization. Just his name alone could attract big-name players — or solid basketball players."

As for Erving's inexperience as an executive, "Did Larry Bird have it before he got the job (in Indiana)? Did (Celtics general manager) Danny Ainge? You've got to start somewhere some time. Look at all the former players that are GMs now who didn't have experience, and look what they've done to teams."

It was hard to argue with that logic. But Carter was also asked yesterday how he came to be in touch with Erving, with whom he has spoken about the GM job. At first he said, "I don't have the slightest idea."

Then he laughed.

"My mom just said, `Hey, here's Dr. J's number — give him a call.' I was like, `Who? Yeah, sounds good to me.'"

It was former Raptors tough guy Charles Oakley who once said of Mic e Carter, "Vince's mom runs the team — she's the GM."

Wouldn't it speak volumes of the Carter-era Raptors, then, if Erving ended up getting the job? In that case, in some crazy way, Vince's mom would have effectively chosen her successor.

Additional articles by Dave Feschuk
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