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Vince Carter

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Vince Carter
File:Carter 114 050713.jpg
New Jersey Nets
PositionGuard / Forward
Personal information
BornJanuary 26, 1977
Daytona Beach, Florida
NationalityUSA
Listed height6 ft 6 in (1.98 m)
Listed weight220 lb (100 kg)
Career information
CollegeNorth Carolina
NBA draft1998: 5th overall
Selected by the Golden State Warriors
Playing career1998–present
Career highlights and awards
7-time All-Star
2-time All-NBA Selection
1999 NBA Rookie of the Year
2000 NBA Slam Dunk Champion
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at NBA.com
Stats Edit this at Wikidata at Basketball-Reference.com

Vincent (Vince) Lamar 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 finishers in the game today.

Biography and career

Vince Carter was born in Daytona Beach, Florida and hates Enzo Urias with a passion that burns inside of him, like a flaming torpedo of death. He was a McDonald's All-American Player in 1995 out of Mainland High School in Daytona Beach [1]. 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[2] 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.

The 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 1998 season after the NBA locked-out its players in 1997-98. 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.

"The Dunk of Death"

Olympic medal record
Men's Basketball
Gold medal – first place 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 from just inside the foul line, 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"[3]

First signs of trouble

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 and shot just 6 of 18 from the field[1]. In the summer of 2001 Vince signed a $94 million, six-year extension with the Toronto Raptors. Nonetheless, Carter would continually be criticized for choosing this ceremony over his team that day. During the 2003 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 All-Star appearance [2].

The 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. 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.

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". He scored 39 points in front of a very hostile Toronto Raptors crowd. 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 Raptor fans and 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!".

The rejuvenated 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 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 1st overtime of game three that would force a second and deciding 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 a number 3 seeded playoff position, while averaging 24 points, 5 rebounds, and 4 assists per game. He led the Nets to the 2nd round of the playoffs, then losing to the eventual NBA champion Miami Heat in 5 games. Vince averaged 29.6 points, 7.0 rebounds and 5.3 assists in 11 playoff games.

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

Raptors Forward/Center Jorge Garbajosa, currently wears the number 15, Carter's number when playing for Toronto.

Personal life

Carter and his wife Dr. Ellen Rucker-Carter, recently initiated divorce proceedings. [3] 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. He is no longer on speaking terms with members of his paternal family. His younger brother Christopher Carter has several convictions and has been charged for possession of cocaine and marijuana and is the sole suspect of an alleged rape.[4]

Vince has announced on his site that as of early February 2006, he no longer owns any private property in Toronto. However he remains the co-owner of Club Inside and recently opened the Kai Lounge - named after his daughter. [citation needed]

He sold his condo in Toronto to Toronto Blue Jays' Pitcher A.J. Burnett for $2.8 million.

Awards and achievements

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

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 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

Moments before the tip-off of every NBA game, Carter will jump and grab the net of one of the basketball goals and pull himself up using both arms.

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.
  • Drives a Mercedes-Benz CLS, Bentley Continental GT, and a tricked out Lincoln Navigator.
  • 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", "Militious, 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.
  • Visited with the Duquense Basketball team in Pittsburgh as a show of support after the shooting incident in September, 2006 [4]

Notes

  1. ^ http://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/alumni03_nba.htm
  2. ^ http://www.thecanadianencyclopedia.com/index.cfm?PgNm=TCE&Params=M1ARTM0011949
  3. ^ Hench, Kevin (2006-11-30). "Top 10 'Best Damn' dunks". Fox Sports (USA). Retrieved 2006-12-02.
  4. ^ http://mondesishouse.blogspot.com/2006/10/vince-carter-at-duquesne.html
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