Vince Carter
| Position: | Small Forward |
| College: | North Carolina |
| NBA draft: | 1998, 1st round Golden State, traded to Toronto |
| Pro career: | 6 seasons |
| Hall of Fame: | None (Active) |
Vincent Lamar Carter (born January 26, 1977 in Daytona Beach, Florida) is a professional basketball player for the New Jersey Nets of the National Basketball Association. His nicknames include Air Canada, Half-man, Half-amazing and Vinsanity.
He was a McDonald's All-American Player in 1995 [1].
He played college basketball at the University of North Carolina. He was then picked ninth overall in the 1998 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and immediately traded to the Toronto Raptors for the rights to college teammate Antawn Jamison. Up until his trade on December 17, 2004, he was considered the franchise player of the Raptors. He easily won the Rookie of the Year Award for the 1998-99 season. Next year, Carter was selected to be an All Star for the first time, and showcased his athleticism by winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. Carter's performance in the dunk contest is regarded as one of the greatest of all time. Though he has not competed in a dunk contest since, Carter has been an All-Star several times since then, and has been consistently voted into the starting lineup through fan balloting. As of 2005, Carter has averaged 23.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 4.0 APG. His career high in points was 51 on February 27, 2000 against the Phoenix Suns.
During the Summer 2000 Olympics in Sydney, Australia, Carter performed one of the most memorable dunks in history when he literally leaped over the 7' 3" frame of French center Frederic Weis.
Carter is one of the lead endorsers of Nike Basketball, along with LeBron James and Kobe Bryant, cashing in on a 6 year 30 million dollar deal signed in 2000. Since then, branded as a signature athlete, Nike has released the Nike Shox VC, the Nike Shox VC II, the Nike Shox VC III, and the Nike Shox VC IV performance basketball footwear (The Nike Shox VC V is scheduled for release in January of 2006). Nike has placed Carter as the face for its innovative Shox technology and the ambassador for the recently resurrected Flight Line of Nike Basketball footwear.
He is a distant cousin of former Raptors teammate Tracy McGrady, who plays for the Houston Rockets and is currently brother-in-law to Antawn Jamison his ex-North Carolina Tar Heel teammate, who plays for the Washington Wizards.
On the morning of the day of Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Conference playoffs (Raptors vs Philadelphia 76ers), Sunday, May 20, he attended his UNC graduation, in which Stuart Scott gave a graduation speech. In that game, Carter missed a game-winning shot with 2.0 seconds remaining [2].
Carter's mother, often a spokesperson for her son, made it clear in the 2004 offseason that he wanted to be traded from the Raptors. Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets on December 17, 2004 by the Raptors for Alonzo Mourning, Eric Williams, Aaron Williams and two future first-round draft picks. In early January 2005, he admitted in a television interview with TNT's John Thompson to not giving effort in his last months as a Raptor; when asked if he always played hard, Carter replied, "In years past, no. I was fortunate to have the talent. You get spoiled when you’re able to do a lot of things. You see that you don’t have to work at it.” Carter's play improved considerably with the Nets. As a result of his higher level of play, his popularity resurged, although his image may be tarnished by the way he parted ways with the Raptors and his admission that he did not play hard in the final weeks on that team. As a Net Carter averaged 27.5 points per game, along with 5.9 rebounds a game and 4.7 assists per game. Vince made his return to the Air Canada Centre as a member of the Nets on April 15, 2005 and scored 39 points in front of what many considered the most hostile home crowd in Toronto Raptors history. The sellout crowd booed Carter mercilessly, chanted his name from the pre-game shootaround to the final buzzer, and many fans brought derogatory signs to express their frustration at Carter's apparent lack of effort in his final days as a Raptor. Carter was able to ignore the heckling of bitter Raptor fans and the Nets would ultimately prevail in blowout fashion, 101-90. Upon the conclusion of the match, Carter was seen clutching the game ball near the Nets' team bench while emphatically stating, "this is still my house!"
The resurrected Vince Carter would eventually guide the Nets to an eighth-place seed in the 2005 NBA Playoffs. While New Jersey would eventually be swept by the Shaquille O'Neal-led Miami Heat, the series marked Carter's first game in the NBA postseason since 2001. Carter finished with averages of 26.8 points per game, 8.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists, his playoffs highlighted by a buzzer-beating two point fadeaway shot in the 1st OT of Game Three that would force a second and deciding overtime.
The Nets in the 2005-2006 season have started off slow, but Carter continues to be a consistent provider, even playing through a back strain, which had limited his walking a few days prior.
Carter was listed as the greatest dunker of all time by a December 2002 issue of SLAM magazine.
External links
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LOVES JEETvincecarter15.com/ Carter's official Site]
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