Former Seminole Scottie Barnes receives praise from Vince Carter and Kyle Lowry
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Since its creation in 1993, the Toronto Raptors have produced three NBA Rookie of the Year winners, with the latest being forward Scottie Barnes.
Former Toronto Raptors guard Vince Carter won the Rookie of the Year in 1998-99, just three seasons after then-Raptors guard Damon Stoudamire won the award.
Vince Carter and Rosalyn Gold-Onwude launched "The VC Show" in June 2022, and Carter was recently joined by Miami Heat guard Kyle Lowry. After spending nine seasons with the Raptors, Lowry applauded their new franchise cornerstone in Barnes.
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"I've been watching Scottie since he was a freshman in high school," Lowry said. "I watched him a few times, when I watched him ... I saw him in Vegas because I have an AAU program, K Low Elite. I watched him a few times and I was like, 'Yo, this kid is amazing.'"
In his lone season at Florida State, Barnes' energy seemed contiguous and helped spark the Seminoles in several games. Lowry said he noticed that trait in Barnes immediately.
"People who [have] watched Scottie for a long time now, he plays with the same exact passion," Lowry said. "He plays with that same exact passion he played with in high school."
Lowry's path didn't cross with Barnes in Toronto, but his experience with the organization and its members have him confident in Barnes' future.
"[Barnes] has great vets, Fred [VanVleet], Pascal [Siakam], he has great management in Masai [Ujiri]," Lowry said. "He has great backing, you know he has a great fan base. The kid is gonna be special."
Carter helped present the Rookie of The Year award to Barnes back in April and also had positive remarks about the Raptors and Barnes.
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"They have this shining young star in Scottie Barnes," Carter said. "You watched earlier, it's like, "Hmm, man this kid got a chance.' Then, all of the sudden at the end of the year, I felt like it was understood. I mean, yeah, it was some competition but it was understood that this guy's gonna be the real deal, he's gonna be the next."
Barnes helped lead Toronto to a 48-34 record and earn the No. 5 seed in the Eastern Conference. He averaged 15.3 points, 7.5 rebounds, 3.5 assists and over one steal per game.
The former Seminole also managed 13 double-doubles in 74 games per StatMuse.
Barnes and the Raptors return to action Oct. 2 against the Utah Jazz as part of the NBA Canada Series presented by Bell.
The full episode of Lowry on The VC Show can be found on the NBA on ESPN Youtube page.
