SINCE the quarantine began, Vince Carter’s retirement was always in a ‘half yes, half no’ situation. But today, Half Man Half Amazing made it official: on his podcast, Carter said, “I'm officially done playing basketball professionally. I'll play at home."
With a career that spans four decades (from the ‘90s all the way to the beginning of the 2020s) and eight teams, the tributes began to pour in for the insanity that was Vinsanity. Some of the younger ones recalled their brushes with the NBA great.
His teams also gave their profuse thanks. Let's kick things off with the Hawks, Vince’s final team, with an indelible highlight reel of the human highlight reel:
And of course, let’s not forget the Raptors, where Carter made an unforgettable first impression and kickstarted a long career of slam dunks.
Even teams he didn’t play with gave him the nod.
Let’s end this roundup of tributes with a Sports Illustrated retweet of a 2000 Team USA game where Carter leaped over a stunned, 7’2” Frederic Weis, in a dunk that would go down in history as “le dunk de la mort”, or the dunk of death.
Happy trails, Mr. Carter.
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