Vince Carter's Retirement

[The Great One]

[S.R.]

Man had every possible trick in his bag. Best dunkers do those in warm ups or on the break, what he did off the bounce and in traffic was incredible.

[Fuchan]

Man had every possible trick in his bag. Best dunkers do those in warm ups or on the break, what he did off the bounce and in traffic was incredible.

Although I've seen him play so many times, I'm still amazed at how high he could get so effortlessly. The guy could FLY

[G__Deane]

Vince is obviously such a polarizing figure.

The thing that I'm not hearing enough of in the conversation about him going to the hall, amidst the point totals, the all-star selections, and the lack of winning in the postseason, is how astonishingly superhuman he was. He was the human highlight reel. He was MUST SEE TV. In a way that really, nobody had been since Jordan. (yes, Kobe was.) It's a shame he didn't have the killer instinct of a Michael or a Kobe... but he certainly had the other-worldly, astonishing athleticism. There's no doubt for me that one of the primary reasons I've grown to appreciate basketball over say hockey is the unbelievable, mind-bending feats of athleticism. Vince Carter jumping over the 7-foot centre is without a doubt the best in-game dunk I've ever seen. It defies comprehension.
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I agree with virtually everything you said except the in-game dunk. I laugh every time someone brings that up.....Vince never "jumped over any 7 footer" He did dunk over him when the player bent down to about 6 feet lol .... and you posted the video to prove it! If the dude had stayed upright all Vince would have had is the guys nose in his nads

There was a dunk in the AS contest in the last year or two where someone did the same thing and dunked over a 7 footer. All the comments were about the dudes head bent down to his chest, he didn't go over him, same thing.

[Fuchan]

I agree with virtually everything you said except the in-game dunk. I laugh every time someone brings that up.....Vince never "jumped over any 7 footer" He did dunk over him when the player bent down to about 6 feet lol .... and you posted the video to prove it! If the dude had stayed upright all Vince would have had is the guys nose in his nads

There was a dunk in the AS contest in the last year or two where someone did the same thing and dunked over a 7 footer. All the comments were about the dudes head bent down to his chest, he didn't go over him, same thing.

I don't know about the same thing. In the dunk contest the guy you are jumping over is there to facilitate your dunk. In the game, the guy is trying to stop you. That dunk was insane, but no matter how many times I watch that GIF, I think KG is about to get punched right in the face.

[G__Deane]

I don't know about the same thing. In the dunk contest the guy you are jumping over is there to facilitate your dunk. In the game, the guy is trying to stop you. That dunk was insane, but no matter how many times I watch that GIF, I think KG is about to get punched right in the face.

Point taken on the difference between the AS dunk and in-game but the point was neither player jumped a 7 footer (high jump record is 8' plus a fraction). No one I'm aware of ever has....

But yah as far as KG (too bad he didn't actually drill him) it looked almost like a Boozer was happening

[G__Deane]

Quitter-Carter was named an all-star in every one of his first nine seasons with the exception of his rookie campaign, but he never got another all-star nod again. Also, after his last season with the New Jersey Nets, he never averaged 20 or more points per game again for the rest of his career, not even cracking double digits in any of his last six campaigns.

In fact, he averaged only 9.8 points per game in the last 11 seasons of his career, something that tanked his overall scoring average to 16.7 per game, good for just 174th all-time. Longevity got his point totals up in the rankings, not being great or even very good.

A good question to consider is why no top competing team ever traded for him for a stretch run or playoff appearance, he certainly would have been available. It's because he had no drive or will to win for an entire decade .... just happy smiling and collecting cheques ....

[Fuchan]

Quitter-Carter was named an all-star in every one of his first nine seasons with the exception of his rookie campaign, but he never got another all-star nod again. Also, after his last season with the New Jersey Nets, he never averaged 20 or more points per game again for the rest of his career, not even cracking double digits in any of his last six campaigns.

In fact, he averaged only 9.8 points per game in the last 11 seasons of his career, something that tanked his overall scoring average to 16.7 per game, good for just 174th all-time. Longevity got his point totals up in the rankings, not being great or even very good.

A good question to consider is why no top competing team ever traded for him for a stretch run or playoff appearance, he certainly would have been available. It's because he had no drive or will to win for an entire decade .... just happy smiling and collecting cheques ....

While I do agree he quit on the team, It can't be understated what a joke we were as a team during that time.They had no idea what they were doing and it showed. Babcock was an idiot, and we were years away from having a respectable team. Just look at how long it took to build culture here. Hats off to people like Dwayne Casey and Demar (Hell I'm feeling generous let's throw CB4 in there too) for starting to build where there was nothing. We needed people like that to establish a culture when we first started, and unfortunately Vince was not that guy.

[KeonClark]

Man had every possible trick in his bag. Best dunkers do those in warm ups or on the break, what he did off the bounce and in traffic was incredible.

Dunk contests have evolved since 2001, and they've built off vince, and a few have at least matched his dunks.

but that's a contest. Aaron Gordon and zach lavine could never come anywhere close to what vince could do In a real life basketball game.

and that's why hes air Canada and the best dunker of all time hands down

[KeonClark]

While I do agree he quit on the team, It can't be understated what a joke we were as a team during that time.They had no idea what they were doing and it showed. Babcock was an idiot, and we were years away from having a respectable team. Just look at how long it took to build culture here. Hats off to people like Dwayne Casey and Demar (Hell I'm feeling generous let's throw CB4 in there too) for starting to build where there was nothing. We needed people like that to establish a culture when we first started, and unfortunately Vince was not that guy.

Watching those old playoff games with adult perspective is an eye opener.

Morris Peterson and Alvin Williams were not good nba players. We thought they were, but on a good roster, those guys are middle of the bench plugs at best. The team was vince.

the only other plus we had was front court toughness and grit with jyd, Davis, and Oakley. But these guys were all still just role players

[Fuchan]

Watching those old playoff games with adult perspective is an eye opener.

Morris Peterson and Alvin Williams were not good nba players. We thought they were, but on a good roster, those guys are middle of the bench plugs at best. The team was vince.

the only other plus we had was front court toughness and grit with jyd, Davis, and Oakley. But these guys were all still just role players

Exactly. Our favorite players were the hockey types, JYD and such. Just imagine, if not for Vince we could have ended up like the Grizzlies. I guess we'll never know for sure, but I started watching the NBA around 2000 when Vince was exploding. I'm sure I'm not the only kid who took notice at the time that all eyes were on a Canadian teams player and basketball was becoming cool around where I grew up.

[chris]

Quitter-Carter was named an all-star in every one of his first nine seasons with the exception of his rookie campaign, but he never got another all-star nod again. Also, after his last season with the New Jersey Nets, he never averaged 20 or more points per game again for the rest of his career, not even cracking double digits in any of his last six campaigns.

In fact, he averaged only 9.8 points per game in the last 11 seasons of his career, something that tanked his overall scoring average to 16.7 per game, good for just 174th all-time. Longevity got his point totals up in the rankings, not being great or even very good.

A good question to consider is why no top competing team ever traded for him for a stretch run or playoff appearance, he certainly would have been available. It's because he had no drive or will to win for an entire decade .... just happy smiling and collecting cheques ....

because he wasn't available? at least, not until he was like 40? after NJ he was the 2nd best player on an orlando team that made the conference finals, got traded to phoenix where he spent a year. then he signed consecutive three year contracts with dallas and memphis, both of whom were playoff teams and both of whom signed him to those long term deals despite being in his age 35 to 40 years precisely because he was the type of high character, veteran role player playoff teams look for.

but yes you're right no contender signed him in his 40's.

[G__Deane]

While I do agree he quit on the team, It can't be understated what a joke we were as a team during that time.They had no idea what they were doing and it showed. Babcock was an idiot, and we were years away from having a respectable team. Just look at how long it took to build culture here. Hats off to people like Dwayne Casey and Demar (Hell I'm feeling generous let's throw CB4 in there too) for starting to build where there was nothing. We needed people like that to establish a culture when we first started, and unfortunately Vince was not that guy.

That's when you close your mouth, put your head down and play out our contract....you know, be a pro ..... guys that quit trying should forfeit their pay cheques imo

[G__Deane]

because he wasn't available? at least, not until he was like 40? after NJ he was the 2nd best player on an orlando team that made the conference finals, got traded to phoenix where he spent a year. then he signed consecutive three year contracts with dallas and memphis, both of whom were playoff teams and both of whom signed him to those long term deals despite being in his age 35 to 40 years precisely because he was the type of high character, veteran role player playoff teams look for.

but yes you're right no contender signed him in his 40's.

I said "top competing team" ie top seeds and you come back with Phoenix, Dallas and Memphis.... were any of them you mentioned top 1-3 seeds in their conference? I honestly don't know but I doubt it, maybe Dallas?

[planetmars]

It really becomes Masai's call. As far as I know he has no connections with Vince at all though. So if he were to do it, it would be pressure from the fans/media. And since I think most of the fans want to see his number get retired it'll happen.

I was looking for a close comparison in terms of optics. Can't think of someone who quit on his team and still got honoured years later.

Vince only played 6.5 years and didn't have much playoff success. From that perspective, I know that Dikembe got his number retired in Atlanta. Dikembe only played 4 seasons over there, and also didn't get passed the second round (got there twice, lost 4-1 and 4-0 in back to back seasons). He was a 2x DPOY and 4x all-star as a Hawk.

So it is not unprecedented to honour a player who only played for your team for a short time and still didn't have tremendous team success. But the "quitting on the team" angle is hard to forgive for some.

Does Deron Williams get his number retired by Utah? How about Dwight in Orlando? What about Melo in Denver? Or Anthony Davis in New Orleans?

Either way.. if Vince gets his number retired, I hope they wait until Lowry retires first. Since it's the team's first jersey retirement I think it needs to be extra special.