Nets retire Vince Carter's No. 15 jersey at Barclays Center - ESPN

NEW YORK — When Vince Carter's preferred Nos. 6, 12 or 23 were not available as a freshman basketball player at Florida's Mainland High School, he took some advice from his mother, Michelle.

«My mom told me: 'Find a number and make it famous,'» Carter said.

Carter and his much-celebrated No. 15 reached new heights again when the Brooklyn Nets retired it at halftime of their game Saturday against the Miami Heat.

Carter's family, his former Nets teammates, ex-coach Lawrence Frank, team president Rod Thorn and fellow Nets number retirees Julius Erving, Bill Melchionni and Buck Williams were on hand to see Carter become the seventh Nets player with his number retired.

«This is truly something my family and I will cherish forever,» Carter said during the ceremony. «To be the seventh number to go up is insane. It is an honor to be up there with you gentlemen.

»No. 15 Carter is going up there, but we're going up there together."

Carter spent the game seated next to Erving, his boyhood idol. Former teammates Jason Kidd and Richard Jefferson, and New York-area luminaries such as Eli Manning, Queen Latifah and rapper Fabolous sent congratulatory messages.

Carter's number banner will live directly next to Kidd's No. 5, which is fitting since they were drivers of one of the most successful eras in team history. Carter also credited Kidd for re-invigorating him after the Nets acquired him from the Toronto Raptors in December 2004.

«There was new life,» Carter said of coming to New Jersey. «My role in Toronto was just give me the ball, and I'll get you a (basket). But when I got here, they had a guy… he made the game easier for me.»

Though he only played 374 games over four-plus seasons with the Nets, Carter holds the team record for