Vince Carter

Vince Carter

New Jersey Nets
Position	Guard / Forward
Personal information
Born	January 26, 1977 Daytona Beach, Florida
Nationality	USA
Listed height	6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight	220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
College	North Carolina
NBA draft	1998: 5th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career	1998–present
Career highlights and awards
8-time All-Star 2-time All-NBA Selection 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Champion
Stats at NBA.com
Stats at Basketball Reference

Vincent Lamar "Vince" Carter (born January 26, 1977) is an American All-Star basketball player in the NBA. He currently plays for and co-captains the New Jersey Nets. He is considered one of the best all-round two-guards and dunkers in the game today.

Biography and career

Vince Carter, born in Daytona Beach, Florida, was a McDonald's All-American Player in 1995 out of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach . Carter enjoyed tremendous popularity during his initial years in the NBA, especially after showcasing his incredible athletic abilities in the 2000 All-Star Slam Dunk Contest, which he competed alongside teammate and third cousin Tracy McGrady. Until 2006 Carter had perennially topped All-Star team voting. Following his split with the Toronto Raptors this changed. For the 2006 All-Star Game held in Houston, Texas, Carter did not get enough votes to qualify as a starter, but due to an injury to the Indiana Pacers' Jermaine O'Neal, Eastern Conference All-Star coach Flip Saunders was able to replace O'Neal with Carter as a starter for the 2006 NBA Eastern Conference All-Star Team.

Toronto Raptors

Carter was drafted by the NBA's Golden State Warriors 5th overall and then traded to the Toronto Raptors for Antawn Jamison, a close friend of Carter's. Carter's rookie season was the shortened 50-game 1999 season after the NBA locked-out its players in 1998-99. Carter started almost every game for coach Butch Carter and eventually won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award. The next year, Carter was selected to an All-Star Team for the first time, and showcased his athleticism and amazing dunking abilities in the 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He won the contest by performing an array of dunks including a 360º windmill, a between the legs, and an elbow dunk. Though he has not competed in a slam dunk contest since, Carter has been voted into the Eastern Conference NBA All-Star Team starting lineup several times through fan balloting.

In Carter's first two seasons, his teammate was cousin and future all-star Tracy McGrady who would form a formidable one-two punch as Raptor teammates. Though initially tight and close on the surface, McGrady often found himself in Carter's shadow. While Carter was responsible for scoring, it was McGrady's job to be the team's defensive stopper and ball distributor. The duo of Carter and McGrady led the Raptors to their first playoff berth in the 2000 NBA Playoffs, but they were swept by the New York Knicks in 3 games. Upon McGrady's departure to the Orlando Magic the following season, Carter became the Raptors' franchise player.

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, although he arrived in Philadelphia before the rest of the team did. In that game, Carter missed a game-winning shot with 2.0 seconds remaining and shot just 6 of 18 from the field..

In the summer of 2001, Carter signed a $94 million, six-year extension with the Raptors.

During the 2003 NBA All-Star Game, under great public pressure, Carter gave up his starting All-Star spot to the Washington Wizards' Michael Jordan to allow Jordan to make his final start as an All-Star.

As his Raptor tenure progressed, Raptor fans began to witness a transition in Carter's offensive game that featured more perimeter shooting. This was in stark contrast to Carter's initial repertoire of regular drives to the hoop for dunks which had subsequently gone on a decline. This, combined with Carter's chronic injury problems, predominantly from Jumper's Knee, had Raptor fans questioning his toughness, durability and work ethic. Carter did play well in his final years in Toronto but the team failed to make the playoffs and Carter became frustrated with the Raptor management team as they failed to surround him with players who can help carry the load offensively. On November 22, 2004, when pressed by the local media about his lack of dunks, Carter responded, "I don't want to dunk anymore." This later turned out to be a joke as Carter continued to dunk on a daily basis and since that remark, Vince won the NBA 2005-2006 play of the year with a slam dunk over top of Miami's Alonzo Mourning.

In late December 2004, there were allegations that Carter tipped off the opposing Seattle SuperSonics (the Raptors' opponents on November 19, 2004) of an upcoming Raptors play by yelling "It's a flare! It's a flare!".

"The Dunk of Death"

Olympic medal record
Men's Basketball
	2000 Sydney	United States

During the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Carter performed one of the most memorable dunks in history when he flew over 7-foot-2 (2.18 m) French center Frédéric Weis. Carter took off, spread his legs in midair, and slightly scraped Weis's head before slamming the ball home. The French media later dubbed it "le dunk de la mort" or "the Dunk of Death."

New Jersey Nets

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. On December 17, 2004 the Raptors General Manager Rob Babcock traded Carter to the New Jersey Nets 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.”

Months after the TNT interview, Carter returned to Toronto as a member of the Nets on April 15, 2005, noting to the press that it was "good to be home again". Carter scored 39 points in front of a hostile Toronto Raptors crowd that booed him mercilessly. The fans chanted his name from the pre-game shootaround to the final buzzer, and many brought derogatory signs to express their frustration at Carter's apparent lack of effort in his final days as a Raptor. The Nets would ultimately prevail 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!".

Carter guided the Nets to an eighth-place seed in the 2005 NBA Playoffs. Although New Jersey was swept in the first round by the Miami Heat, Carter finished the series with averages of 26.8 points per game, 8.5 rebounds and 5.8 assists; highlighted by a buzzer-beating two point fadeaway shot in the first overtime of Game 3 that forced a second overtime.

Carter returned to Toronto on January 8, 2006 for the third time since his trade to the New Jersey Nets, and was given the same treatment by the fans that he received the first time he played against the Raptors in the Air Canada Centre. With the Nets trailing 102-104, Carter hit the winning three-point shot with 0.1 seconds left on the game clock and finished with 42 points and 10 rebounds against his former team. Carter considers this winning shot as his greatest ever, considering the atmosphere, the emotion and the hostility in the arena.

The 2005-06 NBA season was another success for Vince Carter, as he co-led the Nets to 49 wins, an Atlantic Division title, and the number three seed in the playoffs, while averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. He led the Nets to the second round of the playoffs before losing to the eventual NBA champions Miami Heat in five games. Carter averaged 29.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 11 playoff games.

On February 1, 2007, Carter was named, along with teammate Jason Kidd, as a reserve to the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, after losing out on a starting spot to Gilbert Arenas by 3,010 votes. Both Carter and Kidd will make their eighth All-Star game appearance.

Carter has a player option in his contract that, if he does not exercise, will make him a free agent in the summer of 2007.

Personal life

In August 2005, Carter and his wife Ellen Rucker-Carter, initiated divorce proceedings. They have one daughter - Kai Michelle Carter, named after his mother Michelle Carter-Robinson.

Carter has one brother and a half-sister and half-brother.

Awards and achievements

• 8-time NBA All-Star selection: 2000, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2004, 2005, 2006, 2007; was selected in 2002 but missed the game due to injury
• 2-time All-NBA:

• Second Team: 2001
• Third Team: 2000

• NBA Slam Dunk Champion 2000
• NBA All-Rookie First Team: 1999
• NBA Rookie of the Year Award: 1999
• The Sporting News NBA Rookie of the Year: 1999

NBA playoff records

• Co-holds NBA playoff record for most three-point field goals made in one game with 9 (May 11, 2001 vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Conference semi Finals).
• Holds NBA playoff record for most three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (same game as above).
• Holds NBA playoff record for most consecutive three-point field goals made in one game with 8 (same game as above).
• Holds NBA playoff record for most consecutive three-point field goals made in one half with 8 (same game as above).

New Jersey Nets franchise records

• Holds for most three-point field goals made in one game with 9 (December 11, 2006 vs. Memphis Grizzlies)
• Holds for most points scored in one season with 1,911 (2005-06)
• Holds for most consecutive 20 or more point games with 23 (2005-06).

Toronto Raptors franchise records and milestones

• Holds for most career points scored with 9,420
• Holds for most points scored in one game with 51 (February 27, 2000 vs. Phoenix Suns)
• Co-holds for most points scored in one quarter with 20 (November 7, 2001 vs. Golden State Warriors)
• Co-holds for most field goals made in one game with 20 (January 14, 2000 vs. Milwaukee Bucks)
• Holds for most points scored in a playoff game with 50 (May 11, 2001 vs. Philadelphia 76ers, Eastern Conference Semi Finals)
• Ranks 3rd for games played with 403
• Ranks 1st for games started with 401
• Ranks 1st for total points with 9,420
• Ranks 1st for total minutes with 15,154
• Ranks 2nd for three-pointers made with 554
• Ranks 2nd for three-pointers attempted' with 1,445

Video game and TV appearances

• Vince appeared on a T-Mobile commercial, talking to his family on a cell phone to demonstrate the extra minutes. He also appeared on various commercials for Nike and Gatorade.
• Carter's penthouse is a stage in the video game NBA Ballers.
• Appeared on the cover of NBA Live 2004.

In popular culture

• The sergeant in the TV show Gomer Pyle was also named Vince Carter.
• Mentioned prominently in the chorus of the track 'Slam Harder' by rap group Onyx.
• Was given a shout out by rapper Foxy Brown on her "Broken Silence" CD, "I'm going to Vince Carter this."
• Is referenced in Jurassic 5's song "The Game", "Malicious, vicious dunks, I'm Vince Carter"
• He is referred to by the nicknames Vinsanity, Half-Man Half-Amazing and his own initials VC. In his Toronto days, he was also referred to as "Air Canada". Raptors announcer Chuck Swirsky also liked to refer to him by his full name "Vincent Lamar Carter".

Off the court

• A philanthropist, he has donated large amounts of money to his former high school, Mainland High School as well as to his foundation, The Embassy of Hope. On February 3, 2007, a statue of Vince Carter was unveiled at Mainland High School.
• Visited with the Duquense Basketball team in Pittsburgh as a show of support after the shooting incident in September, 2006

External links

• Official Website
• Profile at NBA.com
• Vince Carter's U.S. Olympic Team bio