Farewell, VC: After An Illustrious Career, Vince Carter Retires
Jun 25, 2020, 8:20 AM | Updated: 8:33 am
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
(Photo by Mitchell Leff/Getty Images)
The eight-time All-Star played in 22 seasons–the most in NBA history–for eight teams
On June 14, 1998 the Golden State Warriors drafted a kid named Vincent Lamar Carter Jr. out of North Carolina with the fifth pick of the draft.
Shortly after being drafted, the Warriors traded Carter to the recently formed Toronto Raptors.
The rest is history.
Carter went on to become one of the greatest players of the 2000’s, electrifying crowds and captivating the league with his jaw-dropping athleticism. The high-flyer’s display at the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest will live on in basketball lore forever.
Images of Carter sticking his whole arm in the rim and signaling that the contest ‘is over’ are some of the most iconic basketball images of the decade.
After a run that saw him make eight All-Star teams from 1999-2007, Carter evolved his game, turning himself into a role player and eventual solid bench contributor to lengthen his career.
Carter joined the Sacramento Kings in 2017, playing the role of mentor to several young players on the roster.
The then-41 year-old showed flashes of youth with Sacramento, most notably in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers in December of 2017 that saw him score 24 points on 10-of-12 shots from the field.
From 2018-2020, Carter played for Atlanta, scoring 6.3 points per game off of the bench his two seasons with the Hawks.
Today, VC says goodbye to the game of basketball.
Carter announced on the Winging It Podcast that he has retired from the game of basketball in light of the Hawks season being cut short.
The Atlanta Hawks released a statement shortly after confirming that the 43-year old has retired from the league.
Over his time in the league, Carter finishes his career with averages of 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game. His 25,728 points place him at 19th on the NBA’s all-time scoring list.
The 2000 Olympic Gold Medalist also ranks sixth on the NBA’s all-time made three-point field goals list.
Having played in 22 seasons, Carter has played in more NBA seasons than anyone else in league history, passing up Robert Parish, Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett and Kevin Willis’ records of 21 seasons.
Carter is the only person to ever play in four different decades (1990’s, 2000’s, 2010’s, 2020’s).
According to Tommy Beer of Forbes, Carter retires as one of five players in NBA history to score more than 25,000 points, grab more than 5,000 rebounds, dish out more than 4,000 assists and make more than 500 3-pointers.
The other four are: Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, Paul Pierce and LeBron James.
Farewell, VC. Thanks for the memories.
