Vince Carter
Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. is an American former professional basketball player who played for 22 seasons in the National Basketball Association. He primarily played the shooting guard and small forward positions, and was known for his high flying dunks, scoring ability, and athleticism. An eight-time All-Star and a two-time All-NBA Team selection, he played 22 seasons in the NBA, the second longest after LeBron James for the most seasons played in league history. He is also the only player to have played in the NBA in four different decades. In 2024, Carter was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame.
Carter entertained crowds with his leaping ability and slam dunks, earning him nicknames such as "Vinsanity", "Air Canada", and "Half Man, Half Amazing". He has been ranked as the greatest dunker of all time by numerous players, journalists, and by the NBA.
His Dunk of Death against France during the 2000 Summer Olympics is considered one of the most famous of all time. In addition to his dunking prowess, Carter was a prolific three-point shooter, making the tenth most three-point field goals in league history.
A high school McDonald's All-American, Carter played college basketball for three years with the North Carolina Tar Heels and twice advanced to the Final Four of the NCAA Tournament. He was selected with the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors, who traded him to the Toronto Raptors. Carter emerged as a global star in Toronto, winning the 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year Award and the Slam Dunk Contest at the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend. He represented the United States in the 2000 Summer Olympics, where he led the team in scoring and captured a gold medal. In December 2004, Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets, where he continued his offensive success. He also played for the Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Atlanta Hawks. He received the Twyman–Stokes Teammate of the Year Award in 2016. Off the court, Carter established the Embassy of Hope Foundation, helping children and their families in Florida, New Jersey and Ontario. He was recognized in 2000 as Child Advocate of the Year by the Children's Home Society, and received the Florida Governor's Points of Light award in 2007 for his philanthropy in his home state. Carter was inducted into the Florida Sports Hall of Fame in 2023.
Early life
Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, Carter is the son of Michelle and Vincent Carter Sr. His parents divorced when he was seven. His mother remarried several times.Carter attended Mainland High School in Daytona Beach. He played football as a quarterback until a broken wrist in his freshman year forced him to switch to volleyball. In volleyball, he was named the Volusia County Player of the Year as a junior and averaged 24 kills per match; for comparison, none of his teammates averaged more than one. He was also offered a saxophone scholarship to attend Bethune–Cookman University in Daytona Beach.
He led Mainland's basketball team to its first Class 6A state title in 56 years, and was a 1995 McDonald's All-American. On January 31, 2012, he was designated one of the 35 greatest McDonald's All-Americans.
In his senior year he averaged 22 points, 11.4 rebounds, 4.5 assists and 3.5 blocks per game. Carter's career totals at Mainland are 2,299 points, 1,042 rebounds, 356 assists and 178 steals. He was contacted by 77 NCAA Division I schools but ultimately chose North Carolina over Florida.
College
Carter enrolled at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1995. He is a member of the Omega Psi Phi fraternity.He played three seasons of college basketball for the North Carolina Tar Heels under Dean Smith and later Bill Guthridge. During the 1997–98 season, he was a member of new coach Guthridge's "Six Starters" system that also featured Antawn Jamison, Shammond Williams, Ed Cota, Ademola Okulaja, and Makhtar N'Diaye. During his sophomore and junior seasons, Carter helped North Carolina to consecutive ACC men's basketball tournament titles and Final Four appearances. He finished the 1997–98 season with a 15.6 points per game average and was named second-team All-American, First-Team All-ACC, and to the fan's guide third-annual Coaches ACC All-Defensive Team. In May 1998 after his junior year, Carter declared for the 1998 NBA draft, following his classmate Jamison, who had declared earlier that spring.
During his NBA career, Carter continued his coursework at North Carolina, and in August 2000, he graduated with a degree in Afro-American studies, squeezing in attendance at May 2001 graduation ceremonies at North Carolina before leaving to make a Raptors' playoff game in Philadelphia.
Professional career
Toronto Raptors (1998–2004)
Carter was initially drafted by the Golden State Warriors with the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft. He was then immediately traded to the Toronto Raptors for the fourth overall pick, Antawn Jamison on draft night. The Raptors had struggled in their first three years as a franchise. Carter was instrumental in leading the Raptors to their first-ever playoff appearance in 2000 before going on to lead them to a 47-win season and their first-ever playoff series win in 2001, advancing them to the Eastern Conference Semifinals.Due to the 1998–99 NBA lockout, Carter did not begin playing in the NBA until February 1999. Carter quickly became a fan favorite with a soaring offensive game that earned him the nickname "Air Canada". He won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award after averaging 18.3 points and throwing down countless highlight-reel dunks. Carter ascended to full-fledged stardom in his second season—he averaged 25.7 points per game and lifted Toronto to its first playoff appearance in franchise history. He subsequently earned his first NBA All-Star selection and was named to the All-NBA Third Team. During the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend, Carter showcased arguably the most memorable Slam Dunk Contest event in its history. He won the contest by performing an array of dunks including a 360° windmill, a between-the-legs bounce dunk, and an "elbow in the rim" dunk. Carter and his second cousin once removed, Tracy McGrady, formed a formidable one-two punch as teammates in Toronto between 1998 and 2000. However, McGrady left in free agency to the Orlando Magic in August 2000, leaving Carter as the Raptors' franchise player.
In 2000–01, his third season, Carter averaged a career-high 27.6 points per game, made the All-NBA Second Team, and was voted in as a starter for the 2001 NBA All-Star Game. The Raptors finished the regular season with a then franchise-record 47 wins. In the playoffs, the Raptors beat the New York Knicks 3–2 in the first round and advanced to the Eastern Conference Semifinals to face off against the Philadelphia 76ers. Carter and 76ers star Allen Iverson both dominated in a seven-game series that see-sawed back and forth. Carter scored 50 points in Game 3 and set an NBA playoff record for most three-point field goals made in one game. In Game 7, Carter missed a potential game-winning shot with 2.0 seconds remaining. Iverson said of the series in July 2011: "It was incredible. had great games at home and I had some great games at home, but both of us were just trying to put our teams on our back and win basketball games. It is great just having those memories and being a part of something like that."
In August 2001, Carter signed a six-year contract extension worth as much as $94 million. Carter missed the final 22 games of the 2001–02 regular season due to injury. He started in 60 games and averaged 24.7 points per game. On December 7, 2001, Carter recorded 42 points, 15 rebounds, 6 assists and 5 steals against the Denver Nuggets. He joined Charles Barkley as just the second player ever to finish a game with 40 points, 15 rebounds, five steals and five assists, dating back to the 1973–74 season, when the league began officially tracking steals. He was voted into the 2002 NBA All-Star Game, but he could not participate due to injury. Without Carter during the playoffs, the Raptors were defeated in five games by the Detroit Pistons in the first round.
Following off-season surgery, Carter only managed 43 games during the 2002–03 season. In February 2003, Carter gave up his starting spot in the 2003 NBA All-Star Game to Michael Jordan to allow Jordan to make his final start as an All-Star. Carter played in 73 games during the 2003–04 season, but the Raptors fell three games short of making the playoffs.
Trade to the Nets
During the 2004 off-season, general manager Glen Grunwald and the entire coaching staff were fired. Following trade rumours all season long, on December 17, 2004, new general manager Rob Babcock traded Carter to the New Jersey Nets for Alonzo Mourning, Aaron Williams, Eric Williams and two first round draft picks.In his first game back in Toronto, on April 15, 2005, Carter was heavily booed and jeered by Raptors fans. Carter would finish with 39 points in a 101–90 New Jersey victory. Carter continued to receive similar treatment for years to come in the town that once embraced him. Despite this, he thrived on many occasions in Toronto as a Net. On January 8, 2006, after a missed free throw by the Raptors, Carter hit a long three pointer at the other end with 0.1 seconds left to seal a 105–104 win to shock the Toronto crowd. Afterwards Carter, who finished with 42 points, referred to it among his greatest shots ever saying "That's definitely number one. The atmosphere, the emotion, the hostility in the arena, it was a fun game." On November 21, 2008, Carter's late game heroics sent the game into overtime where he would hit another game winner doing so on an inbounds alley-oop dunk with 1.5 seconds left in a 129–127 victory. Carter scored 39 points and regarding the continued booing he insisted he held no grudges to the fans, saying "I know, deep down, that's just sports, that's the way it goes. I root for my team and I'm a terrible fan."
In November 2011, Carter, along with Tracy McGrady and Charles Oakley, addressed the Toronto audience in an interview on Off the Record with Michael Landsberg. When asked about being booed in Toronto, Carter said, "They watched myself and Tracy grow up. And when we left they still got to see flourish and become. For me, I looked at it as, a young child growing up into a grown man and moving on. And I get it. Leaving, hurt a lot of people. It hurt me because I tell you what... I accomplished a lot, I learned a lot, I became the person and player of who I am today because of that experience, through the coaches, players, and everything else. I get it... but regardless I still love the city. I have friends there and my heart is still there because that's where it all started." Later in the interview, when asked about any words to the Toronto fans, Carter said, "I appreciate the fans and whether you cheer for me, boo me, or hate me, I still love you. Toronto's one of the best kept secrets... puts one of the best products on the floor and one of the top places to play in."
On November 6, 2012, in an interview with TSN Radio 1050, Carter reiterated his love for the city and his appreciation for the Toronto Raptors organization. The next day, Sam Mitchell and Rob Babcock revealed on Sportsnet 590, The Fan that the night before Carter was traded to New Jersey, Carter phoned Mitchell to express his desire to stay in Toronto. However, Babcock said it was too late and the trade had already been verbally agreed upon. Looking back on it, Mitchell feels he should have personally contacted the MLSE chairman, Larry Tanenbaum, but was reluctant because he did not want to break the chain of command.
Raptors general manager Masai Ujiri referred to Carter in April 2014 as "one of the symbols of the Toronto Raptors." To this day, Carter remains as one of the Raptors' elite scorers in franchise history having amassed 9,420 points and is Toronto's all-time leader in points per game, box plus/minus and player efficiency rating during his -year run in Toronto.
On November 19, 2014, nearly a decade after the trade, as a part of the Raptors' 20th anniversary celebration, the team paid tribute to Carter with a video montage during the first quarter of the Raptors–Grizzlies game. Leading up to the game, questions were raised about how Raptors fans would receive the planned video tribute. As the sellout crowd watched the video tribute featuring highlights of Carter's high-flying Raptors days, what began as the usual booing turned into an overwhelmingly positive standing ovation. An emotional Carter used his warm-up shirt to wipe tears running down his face as he pointed to his heart and waved to the fans in appreciation. He later stated, "It was a great feeling, I couldn't write it any better."