J-Speaks: NBA Together With The All-Time Leader In Most Seasons Played

In what is now the last game the Atlanta Hawks played in the 2019-20 season was Mar. 11, a 136-131 overtime loss versus the New York Knicks because of the NBA suspending play due to the Coronavirus (COVD-19) Pandemic, it turned out to be the last game of the latest guest on NBATV’s “#NBATogether” in a remarkable career that will land him in Springfield, MA as a member of the Hall of Fame.

Among the first things that NBA on TNT studio host and co-host of “Inside the NBA,” on TNT presented by Kia Ernie Johnson asked in his virtual interview with eight-time All-Star and 1999 Kia Rookie of the Year Vince Carter, who played an NBA-record 22 seasons with the Toronto Raptors, then New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, Sacramento Kings, and Hawks did he think that when he knocked down a three-point field goal with 13.4 seconds left in overtime that would be his last shot made in his basketball career.

The 43-year-old father of three (two daughters, and a son) said that during intermission of that loss versus the Knicks (21-45) said he remembers hearing about the league suspending play after the game because of the seriousness of the global pandemic.

The Hawks (20-47) had a meeting about the situation before the game about the plan of what would happen if any of the players tested positive for COVID-19.

About the midway point of the extra five-minute period, some of the fans in State Farm Arena chanted Carter said, “We want Vince! We want Vince!”

Carter said of that moment, “I’m like no guys. No, I’m fine, believe me. I’m okay. I’m okay.”

Moments later, the Hawks players began lobbying head coach Lloyd Pierce to get Carter onto the floor. One of Carter’s teammate DeAndre’ Bembry jokingly pushing him out onto the floor, and Carter said that he was fine not being out there in what turned out to be his last game of as mentioned his NBA career.

It was not until about 30 seconds left in the contest when Carter’s other teammate Dewayne Dedmon asked him if it crossed his mind that this might be the last game he will ever play in the NBA.

It was right then Carter answered, “it might be.”

Carter added “So, as were standing in the corner I happened to make eye contact with Coach Lloyd Pierce and he’s like, ‘Come on, go.”

The man referred many times by Johnson’s co-host in the studio at TNT Kenny Smith “Half-man, Half-amazing” said as he walked from the end of the bench to the scorer’s table to check into the game that he got “chills” because reality started to set in that this could be the last time he plays on the NBA hardwood.

As Carter checked in, All-Star lead guard Trey Young said that he was going to get him the ball to shoot it.

Carter also heard a couple of guys to go dunk the ball when he gets, to which Carter said, “Nah. I’ve been sitting on this sideline too long. Threes better than two anyway.”

On the ensuing possession of Carter’s entrance into the game, he took the ball out and inbounded it to Young. As soon as the Hawks passed half court, Carter got himself into position at the top of the three-point line, got a pass from Young, shot the ball and it went down. That led to an eruption from the fans and from Carter’s teammates on the bench.

“I was kind of thankful to see it go in,” Carter said of sinking the last field goal of his NBA career. “It kind of hit me as true reality in the locker room after the game because as we’re finding out more information, I’m thankful that shot went in more and more.”

Back in late June on the “Winging It with Vince Carter” podcast, via The Ringer Network, Carter, the No. 5 pick of the 1999 NBA Draft by the Golden State Warriors, but was then traded to the Raptors for his North Carolina teammate Antawn Jamison left know doubt that his NBA career was finished saying, “I’m officially finished playing basketball. I’m officially done playing basketball professionally.”

Back in the summer of 2019, Carter initially said after signing a one-year deal to come back with the Hawks that the 2019-20 NBA campaign would be his final one.

Carter, who in the early part of January became the first player in NBA history to play in four different decades had not addressed his playing future since “The Association” suspended play as mentioned on Mar. 11 because of the global pandemic.

The league made an announcement last month it will resume the 2019-20 season with 22 of its 30 squads at the ESPN Wide World of Sports Complex in Orlando, FL. Unfortunately, the Hawks, Detroit Pistons ( 20-46), Chicago Bulls (22-43), Charlotte Hornets (23-42), and Cleveland Cavaliers (19-46) from the Eastern Conference, and the Minnesota Timberwolves (19-45) and Golden State Warriors from the Western Conference say their seasons end when the league in conjunction with the National Basketball Players Association (NBPA) voted to resume play with those other 22 squads at the end of this month in Florida.

There have been rumors about those eight teams meeting in Chicago, IL in their own bubble. When asked if that is something Carter would want to participate in, he said it is something he is “thinking” about.

“I’m all the meetings with the team [Hawks]. I’ve had conversations with the players of just making sure we can get everybody together and play because I know at the end of the day it would just be to finish out my career for me. And it’s extremely important for our young guys, that young group to really play. So, I’m still thinking about it.”

The early days of retirement for Carter has said have been really good to him. But also said that once the NBA season does restart and those eight teams get the okay to all congregate in Chicago, that those “juices” of playing will start to flow again.

No matter what happens with Carter if he does decide to go to this supposed second bubble in “Chi-town” or if that game versus the Knicks will be the last time we ever see him on an NBA court, the images and memories that the Daytona Beach, FL native has given basketball fans will be etched into our memories forever.

One of those memories is the exceptional, unforgettable, astonishing exhibition he put on in 2000 Slam Dunk Contest at The Arena in Oakland, CA on Feb. 13, 2000.

The dunks Carter did for that contest got fans, NBA players in the stands, the judges of the contest in such a frenzy of cheer that Johnson said it was the only time he had ever seen an All-Star Saturday Night sound and feel like an NBA playoff tilt.

Carter said the first dunk, a 360 degree one-handed throw down did not have the “Wow” factor to him. He felt the same way about his 180-degree windmill dunk coming from underneath the basket.

He said that he was looking to do a dunk that in his mind would impressive himself as well as those in attendance.

“When I got there, the dunks I had originally planned, I was like, ‘this is not going to win.’ It’s not going to win,” Carter said. “So, I scrapped it right there on the spot and then I’m thinking-I’m just trying to pull things that I’ve done from times past that I felt that would win or present the wow factor, which was important to me. I knew the anticipation was there. And I knew the level of expectation in my mind was high, and for those who already knew me like the Antawns [Jason] Kidd.”

“All these guys that I see on the sideline like that I knew, they knew what I could do. K.G. [Kevin Garnett], they knew what I could do. It’s just I wanted to wow those guys.”

Carter did wow those legends of the NBA as well as the 20,000-plus in the stands of The Arena with his in between the legs one handed throw down off bounce pass from his then Raptors teammate and cousin,  Tracy McGrady, now an NBA analyst for ESPN.

The idea for that dunk for Carter said came from a picture he saw of a guy in “Eastbay” Magazine with the ball in between his legs, which he never practiced.

The dunk where Carter had his right arm in the rim once the dunk was completed was an idea he came up with on that night. It stemmed from being at a game of then Seattle Supersonic perennial All-Star guard Gary Payton where Carter was dropping the ball in the rim.

It was here Carter said that he was going to try that dunk that night, which he told then Houston Rockets guard Cuttino Mobley.

When asked after winning that Slam Dunk contest by the late Hall of Fame sideline reporter for the NBA on TNT Craig Sager about how his performance will rate over time against the performances done by the likes of Michael Jordan and Dominique Wilkins, Carter answered by saying, “I don’t know.”

Also in attendance to see Carter’s stellar performance that night in Oakland was perennial All-Star, NBA champion with the Boston Celtics in 2008 and future Hall of Famer in Garnett, who witnessed Carter complete one of the most unbelievable dunks in a game ever when he threw down a one-hand banger on 7-foot-2 center of the French National team Frederic Weis at the 2000 Summer Olympics in Sydney, Australia.

Garnett had a look of when Carter posturized Weis that he will remember this dunk for the rest of his life.

Cater said the celebration to him was completing the dunk after he thought he was too far from the rim once he jumped and not because he jumped over a player who was over seven-feet tall.

Whether Carter makes it to the Hall of Fame the first time he becomes eligible or the second or third time because of the lengthy career he had of playing 22 seasons and always being relevant whether it was when he was one of the best players in the game in his early years with the 

Raptors the first six-and-a-half and the Nets five years after that or in the stops that came after playing for his hometown team in the Magic for three seasons, the Suns for one season, the Mavericks for three seasons, the Grizzlies for three seasons thereafter, followed by one season with the Kings and the final two with the Hawks.

The only thing that is missing from Carter’s career resume is an NBA title. The closet he came to that was in 2010 with the Magic where they made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, but lost to Garnett, Ray Allen, Paul Pierce, and the Celtics in six games, after going 8-0 in the first two rounds of the postseason.

It is during this time when a player like Carter looks back at his career and wishes certain moments went differently like him making that last-second shot at the Philadelphia 76ers in Game 7 of the 2001 Eastern Semifinals, that the eventual East champion 76ers won 88-87 on May 20, 2001.

“At the time, we felt we beat the 76ers, we have a real shot of playing in The Finals,” Carter said of that Raptors team 19 years ago. “And win or not just getting the opportunity to play in The Finals would definitely be one of the things I wished I had the opportunity to do.”

Carter added if that opportunity came, he hoped to be a consistent part of the playing rotation and not sitting on the end of the bench, which might have happened had he gone to be a part of a contender. But wherever Carter played, he said that wanted to have a legitimate chance of earning playing time each night from how he practiced and played with his teammates.

That Game 7 where Carter missed that game-winner at the 76ers occurred on the same day he went back to Chapel Hill and earned his college degree in African American studies from the University of North Carolina. He did that and managed to get to now Wells Fargo Arena two hours before game time at 12:15 p.m.

Unfortunately there are some from the media to fans that talk about that moment, but Carter said if he had that moment to do over, he would still choose to go to his graduation, enjoyed a moment that not many get the chance to do and go to the game, and live with whatever the result is.

“I don’t care. I don’t care,” Carter answered about his decision to the NBA on NBC before that Game 7. “I’m accomplishing two things. I’m in the biggest game and I accomplished the biggest thing in my life and that’s to graduate.”

He added by telling Johnson that, “Graduating. Being able to walk into my house on the front door and seeing that diploma means the world to me. And I felt just because I’m an NBA player playing in the playoffs, that doesn’t mean I can’t accomplish one of the most influential things in my family’s life and mine as well, you know? Outside of winning [Kia] Rookie of the Year, that’s another thing I’m proud of that I can say I’m a college graduate.”

When Carter arrived right before the Raptors walkthrough before Game 7 at the 76ers, he was the first one in the room.  

On that last shot, Carter said that the play was originally set up for him to catch the ball off the inbounds from the top of the circle. That pass was denied by Tyrone Hill, which is how he ended up catching the ball on and shooting from the left baseline right in front of the Raptors’ bench.

If that shot had gone down and the Raptors made it to the Eastern Conference Finals, that would be the example every educator, principal of every high school and every college professor used to say to their students you can excel in academics and athletics.

Carter said walking out of the timeout before that last shot, he said to himself that once he makes this game-winner that he was either going to run all the way into the stands or jump right on the scorer’s table to let out all of his emotions out to the naysayers, and believers that you have the opportunity to be educated and exceptional in sports.

While that shot went long and the 76ers moved on and the Raptors’ season ended, Carter said he can in that moment hold his head high and when the team’s public relations asked if he needed a minute before his postgame presser, Carter said, “No. Let’s go do it.”

“I’m not ashamed of it. I support my decision. I stuck by my decision, and I still do today.”

  

The main reason Carter should not be ashamed for of graduating from college is that he joined a list of notable athletes who returned to get their degrees in two-time NFL Defensive Player of the Year and six-time Pro Bowler Aaron Donald of the NFL’s Los Angeles Rams; former Pittsburgh Steelers safety and Super Bowl champion Troy Polamalu; pitcher Marcus Stroman of the MLB’s Toronto Blue Jays; guard Jordan Bone of the Pistons; now New England Patriots quarterback Cam Newton; Tennis legend Venus Williams; four-time NBA champion and Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal; two-time Olympic figure skater Michelle Kwan; and the great Michael Jordan.

Along with being away from game of basketball to play golf, Carter has also used this time to process all that has gone on because of the COVID-19 Pandemic and the protests for social justice in the wake of the deaths of Breonna Taylor in Kentucky, George Floyd in Minneapolis, MN and of Ahmaud Arbery and Rayshard Brooks in Georgia at the hands of racist Caucasians or from those in law enforcement.

With the NBA in limbo early on during the pandemic of whether they would resume the season or not along with the pandemic and the social unrest, it was easy for Carter to worry about the ending to his basketball career.

Carter refers to this as a year of education for the entire world. That was has transpired in the world with all the thousands of deaths due to COVID-19 and the unnecessary deaths of minorities here in the U.S. has been “painful,” yet “healthy,” and encouraging because how the young generation has risen up and taken their frustrations to the streets in these global protests.

“It was one of the best things that I was able to do,” Carter said of being a part of that protest. “It’s one thing seeing it and obviously supporting the peaceful protests around the world. 

Seeing Stephen Jackson [Mr. Floyd’s friend from back in Texas] do the wonderful things he’s doing in becoming somewhat of a world leader and trendsetter. Just watching everybody follow his lead, and just following the lead of all the people who are out there each and every day protesting for change.”

Not too long ago, Carter got a chance to participate in a peaceful march with Coach Pierce, where he spoke about trying to make State Farm Arena a polling place so that Fulton County and DeKalb county, and every citizen in Atlanta, GA has the right to vote in the General Election this November.

Late last month, the Hawks in partnership with Fulton County made it official that State Farm Arena will be transformed into Georgia’s largest-ever voting precinct, beginning with early voting on July 20 for the state’s General Primary Runoff Election on Aug. 11.

This partnership will allow nearly tens of thousands of voters to cast their ballots for upcoming elections while continuing to maintain the Center for Disease Controls guidelines of recommended social distancing.

Carter also got the opportunity to take his 15-year-old daughter Kai Michelle to the Wendy’s sight where Mr. Brooks life was taken, which he called a “chilling” experience to sit back and watch her take in that moment.

He said that he feels fortunate to be in the city where some this horrific has taken place and to be able to take his daughter to site where it happened, and to sit back and let her take in history that is impacting her generation and the world at the very moment.

“So, it was just an unbelievable experience for her that I think she’ll appreciate,” Carter said. “And it’s amazing to kind of see her now using her voice at the young age of 15. And you know, she’s calling out kids who are just doing wrong.”

When asked by Johnson if Carter’s 15-year-old daughter ask her questions about what is going on or if he volunteers information, he answered it is a little bit of both.

He also said that she’s aware of because Carter and his daughter have conversations in the spot where Mr. Brooks was killed.

From that moment and through those conversations Carter and his daughter have had, she has held her friends to a higher standard, not matter if they are African American, Caucasian or otherwise to account going forward.

It is not surprising to see that from Carter’s daughter in terms of really caring for those that she really cares about because it is something that he has done his entire career particularly in the final years of it.

In 2016, Carter was named the Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year while he was with the Grizzlies, which he called his MVP trophy because this is something that was not voted on by the media, but his peers in the league.

When asked what makes a good teammate by Johnson, Carter said is someone who not only leads by example as a player on the team, but one who sets the tone on what is expected from everyone on the roster. Someone who is professional at all times both on and off the court.

“That’s something I’ve always valued is being a good teammate on and off the court,” Carter said. “I’ve always wanted to make the game easier for my teammates.”

It did not matter to Carter who he was playing alongside. He played alongside fellow future Hall of Famer Dirk Nowitzki when he was with the Mavericks from 2011-14. He wanted to make life on the floor, in practice and on the team plane as easy as possible for him and anyone else he played with.

For as much as his teammates respected him for how he has conducted himself, Carter has also earned that respect from the greats that came before him and ones he eventually or played against him like Hall of Famer Shaquille O’Neal and future Hall of Famer Dwyane Wade.

Wade, a three-time NBA champion with the Miami Heat said on NBA on TNT Tuesday that back in 2000-01 while at Marquette University went to the then BMO Harris Bradley Center in the hopes that the security people, who also worked Golden Eagle games in the same building would let him into the building.

Wade was allowed into the arena by security and got a chance to sit way up in the stands, but by getting there early to get a chance to see Carter do his pregame workouts that became well known, where he would put on a dunk show.

One of Wade’s favorite things he saw Carter do was before tip-off he would grab the net on one of the baskets and do a chin up, which is something Wade did in during his NBA career.

“So, thank you for inspiring me Vince. Thank you for inspiring a whole generation of players not only in Canada but around the whole world, man. You are one of our G.O.A.T.S, and just thank you,” Wade said.

Wade’s teammate, who helped him win the first of those three titles with the Heat back in 2006 in the aforementioned O’Neal said his best memory of Carter came during the 2006 East Semifinals where he tried to dunk on him and he fouled him, which put him on the bench. 

Moments later Carter drives down the lane and throws done a one-handed dunk on Hall of Famer Alonzo Mourning, which Wade called the “coldest in person” dunk he ever seen.

For Los Angeles Sparks All-Star, WNBA champion and TNT analyst Candace Parker, she said her favorite memory of Carter was in the 2007 First-Round series when the Raptors played against the Nets, Carter blocked a layup attempt by Candace’s brother Anthony on a fast break.

It has given Parker another story to tell at her family’s dinner table during Thanksgiving, which she said is thankful for making those gatherings “better.”

Carter was shown even more love by the “Inside the NBA” crew on Thursday night by fellow Tar Heel Kenny Smith and by Hall of Famer and 1993 Kia MVP Charles Barkley.

For Smith, he said on Thursday that he will remember Carter as someone who put basketball on the radar in the country of Canada, that forever has been known for hockey. So much so that there are at over 10 players from Canada like Andrew Wiggins of the Golden State Warriors, Tristian Thompson with the Cleveland Cavaliers, and Kelly Olynyk with the Miami Heat in the NBA because of watching Vince Carter.

“He took a nation and said, ‘This is the NBA. This is how it looks,’” Smith said of what Carter did for basketball in Canada. “That’s what I’m proud of him for is creating an atmosphere in a nation that never existed.”

Barkley said of Carter he is “one of the nicest men he’s ever been around.” That he was a person of “class, dignity and respect.”

What Barkley said he really respected about Carter is how he evolved his game from a player who all game could attack the basket and dunk on people at the drop of a hat to a player that became a great jumper shooter, especially from three-point range.

“When you go from playing basketball on talent and have to play with your brain, it’s not easy. It’s not easy at all. A lot of guys who can jump anymore, they fall off a cliff because they have no basketball intellect and they don’t know how to play below the rim,” Barkley said.

“I admire Vince Carter when he could jump over the rim, over the backboard, and later in his career he turned himself into a great shooter.”

In 1999, Vince Carter came into the NBA and he left an indelible mark on the game with his play, and his actions both on and off the court.

The career resume, which will land him in the Hall of Fame, will show eight All-Star Selections (2000-07); the 1999 Kia Rookie of the Year; a two-time All-NBA selection; the No. 19 all-time leading scorer in NBA history at 25,728 points; No. 3 as mentioned on the all-time games played list at 1,541 behind Hall of Famer Kareem Abdul-Jabbar (1,560) and three-time NBA champion with the Celtics in the 1960s Robert “The Chief” Parish (1,611); all-time leader in most seasons played in NBA history at 22, surpassing the 21-season club that has future Hall of Famers Dirk Nowitzki, whose all came with the Mavericks, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis and Parish.

Above all, Vince Carter played his career with a dignity, devotion, dedication, and commitment to where he got to leave the game on his own terms. He never let not winning a championship define who he is. He treated everyone in every organization he played for with from the front office to his teammates, coaching staff and the fans with respect and dignity.

He carried himself in a way that he made his mother Michelle Carter-Scott, his siblings Chris, Jeff and Alicia, his wife Sondi, and his three children, including Kai Michelle proud of him.

Whatever Vincent Lamar Carter, Jr. does in the future, likely as a frequent guest on ESPN’s “NBA: The Jump” with Rachel Nichols he will do it with the same character and devotion he did in his NBA career that has earned him the respect of many.

“If someone can say you’re a nice person at the end of the day, that’s all any man or woman can ask for,” Barkley said. 

Information, statistics, and quotations are courtesy of 1/4/2020 www.espn.com story, “Vince Carter Becomes First NBA Player To Appear In Four Decades,” by Tory Barron;  5/16/2020 www.espn.com story, “School Is Cool: Notable Athletes Who Returned For Their College Degrees,” by Tory Barron; 6/25/2020 www.nba.com story, “Vince Carter Announced His Retirement From NBA After 22 Seasons;” 6/29/2020 www.nba.com story, “Fulton County & Atlanta Hawks Partnering TO Transform State Farm Arena Into Georgia’s Largest Voting Precinct For August Runoff and November’s General Elections;” 7/7/2020 8 p.m. edition of “NBA on TNT Tuesday, “ with Adam Lefkoe, Candace Parker, Dwyane Wade, Shaquille O’Neal, and Vince Carter; 7/9/2020 8 p.m. “Inside the NBA,” presented by Kia on TNT with Ernie Johnson, Kenny Smith, Charles Barkley, and Shaquille O’Neal; 7/8/2020 8:30 p.m. NBATV’s “#NBATogether With Ernie Johnson: Vince Carter;” www.vincecarter15.com/bio/; https://www.espn.com/nba/standings; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_National_Basketball_Association_career_games_played; https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/2000-01_Philadelphia_76ers_season; and https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Vince_Carter.