Carter and Pierce do the right thing

The Toronto Raptors and the Boston Celtics made great strides toward becoming successful franchises on Wednesday, signing their top stars to long-term deals.

The Raptors signed Vince Carter to a six-year extension worth about $94 million, which will keep one of the game's best talents in town for the better part of his career. In a refreshing turn of events, Carter used phrases like "money doesn't matter" and "I'd rather be happy" at his press conference. Sure, anyone would be happy with $94 million, but the fact of the matter is that if he would have tested the free agent waters, he could have been commanding far more than that. And far more than that is far more than the Raptors would ever be able to afford.

Carter, who is averaging 24.6 points per game after his first three years, has improved steadily and is considered one of the best overall talents in the game. He is known for his dunks, but after today he'll also be known for turning away from the big money and staying with the team that first believed in him. Carter staying in Toronto is good for the game, good for sports in general and great for the city.

The Celtics also locked up arguably their best player, signing Paul Pierce to a seven-year deal worth approximately $85 million. The 6' 7", 220 pound small forward has averaged 21.1 points and six rebounds per game, is considered by the Celtics to be one-half of the building block of the franchise.

Fellow forward Antoine Walker is the other one.

Like Carter, Pierce also expressed his appreciation of the fans and city as one of the reasons he wanted to stay. Pierce could have very easily wanted out of Boston after last September's stabbing left him needing lung surgery. It was, however, the public's support following the incident that convinced Pierce that Boston was the place for him.

Even though the Raptors and Celtics are at different stages of existence, these two moves improve their chances of reaching contender status that much sooner. The Raptors took the Philadelphia 76ers to seven games, before their 88-87 loss in the Eastern Conference semifinals started their summer early. Signing Carter, along with Antonio Davis, Alvin Williams, and Jerome Williams, maintains continuity on this developing team that is hard to find in today's world of free agency. It should provide benefits for years to come.

The Celtics started the year off slow, but began to play better before the ink was dry on Rick Pitino's resignation. The Celtics went 24-24 the rest of the year and narrowly missed making the playoffs. Pierce and Walker were the top two scorers from that team, and with them coming back the chances of improving look pretty good.

In an era that is driven by money and greed, it is always refreshing to see a glimpse of character from high-priced athletes. Hopefully, this will become the trend, and not the exception.