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Vince Carter, After Latest Chapter With Hawks, Hints Toward Historic 22nd Season
Steven SimineriFormer Contributor
Atlanta Hawks forward Vince Carter reacts after scoring a 3-point shot during the second half of an... [+] NBA basketball game against the Oklahoma City Thunder, Tuesday, Jan. 15, 2019, in Atlanta. The Hawks won 142-126. (AP Photo/John Amis)
It was an eventful twenty-first season for the guy they call "half-man, half-amazing." A day before Thanksgiving, Vince Carter became the 22nd player in NBA history to eclipse the 25,000-point mark and he did so with a dunk against his first team. A few days before the New Year, the Atlanta Hawks swingman became the oldest man to score at least 21 points in a regular-season game and the oldest to lead or tie for the team lead in scoring.
To ring in 2019, the NBA's eldest statesman received a video tribute in Toronto and again the following night against the Nets. Each time it showed Carter's electrifying highlights from his stops with those two franchises and fans expressed their appreciation on what was thought to be the cusp of his retirement. In a season where two NBA icons in Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki enjoyed retirement tours, Carter never looked or sounded like a man ready to walk away.
"I don't know, I don't know," Carter exclaimed to a group of reporters after a December game in Brooklyn. "I guess the summer time is my friend. I continue to get phone calls from teams that are interested so I don't know. I just love to play to be honest with you, it's just not out of me yet, regardless of the age and the amount of years I still love playing, I love competing."
For a kid who packed up to play for Dean Smith at 18 and spent three years at North Carolina, his 21 years in the association has been the longest stretch of his life. Only four other players – former teammate Kevin Willis, Robert Parish, Kevin Garnett and 1998 NBA Draft classmate Dirk Nowitzki have played 21 seasons. Should Carter return for 2019-20, the man once dubbed "Air Canada" would become the longest-serving player in league history and the first to have his career span four different decades.
In a road game against the Clippers on Jan. 26, Carter became the first player to hit a three on their 42nd birthday and just the sixth player in league history to play at such an advanced age, joining Willis, Parish, Dikembe Mutombo, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and Nat Hickey. Heck, only 28 quadragenarians have stepped on an NBA court.
The inconceivable longevity of the artist formerly known as 'Vinsanity' is perhaps best appreciated through his current Atlanta teammates'. First-round pick, Trae Young, was five months old when Carter debuted on February 5, 1999. John Collins was born before Carter's final season at UNC and Carter has been in the NBA longer than Kevin Huerter has been alive. Carter's 249 teammates are the most in NBA history.
Carter, who has been defying gravity all his life, can no longer rely just on his athleticism and he hasn't averaged more than 10 points per game since 2013-14. However, the 6-foot-6 veteran has stretched out the twilight of his career by gracefully transitioning to life as a part-timer and 3-point specialist of sorts.
LOS ANGELES, CA - JANUARY 28: Atlanta Hawks Forward Vince Carter (15) looks to drive to the basket... [+] during a NBA game between the Atlanta Hawks and the Los Angeles Clippers on January 28, 2019 at STAPLES Center in Los Angeles, CA. (Photo by Brian Rothmuller/Icon Sportswire via Getty Images)
"You just have to dedicate yourself to taking care of your body and it's not about the quickness when you get at this age," said Carter, who has bounced from team to team in recent years, instead of playing ring chaser with the Warriors or Raptors. "It's more so just about understanding angles and how to still last and obviously the love and passion for the game."
Over the summer, Carter signed a one-year veterans minimum contract with the rebuilding Hawks, who wanted some scoring punch off the bench as well as a battle-tested sage. He appeared in 76 games, chipping in 7.4 points, 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assists across 17.5 minutes per game. But the knowledge Carter imparted onto younger teammates was his biggest contribution and he enjoys paying forward what he learned from veteran teammates when he broke in with Toronto.
"Every time I see Kevin Willis, he laughs at me because we used to laugh at him or pick on him and now, he enjoys it," said Carter. "Sitting in the stands he's like, yeah remember that was me, now it's you. So, I have a great appreciation for it now and I apologize to him."
Last Wednesday, Carter wasn't on the court when the Hawks hosted Philadelphia and instead was calling the game on Fox Sports. He did sideline reporting during last summer's NBA Finals and Summer League. This season, he and teammate Kent Bazemore have even worked together on The Ringer's popular "Winging It" podcast. Despite Carter being one of the league's premier player-coaches, don't expect to see him coaching when his playing days are over.
"No, no, no way," said Carter, who has earned over $169 million in his career. "Player development maybe, coach, no way."
As far as his Hall of Fame case goes, well, Carter is hurt by a few factors. One, he bounced around a bit during his career, playing for the Raptors, Nets, Magic, Suns, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Kings and Hawks. A Hall of Fame case always looks a lot clearer to people when a player has been with one or two teams. Carter has made only two All-NBA teams and there will always be criticism about his team's going as far as the conference finals just once (in 2010 with Orlando).
According to a Basketball-Reference.com algorithm, Carter's Hall of Fame probability stands at nearly 95 percent. You can consider Carter's eight All-Star appearances — more than Hall of Fame guards Mitch Richmond (6), Joe Dumars (6), Dennis Johnson (5) and Reggie Miller (5). While nobody thinks of 25,000 points as a magic number such as 500 home runs in baseball, every eligible player with at least that many points is enshrined in the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame.
Last month, Carter continued his climb up the NBA's all-time scoring list by surpassing Reggie Miller (25,279) to move into 20th place in scoring in NBA history. In other statistical categories, he ranks sixth all-time in 3-pointers made (2,229), fifth in games played (1,481) and 18th in minutes played (45,479).
In all likelihood, Carter is going to be a Hall a Famer, but he has to retire first. And that moment isn't quite here yet.
Steven Simineri
Freelance radio reporter with Metro Networks, the Associated Press and CBS Sports Radio. Past reporting experience includes the Nets, New York Knicks, Yankees, Mets,…
Freelance radio reporter with Metro Networks, the Associated Press and CBS Sports Radio. Past reporting experience includes the Nets, New York Knicks, Yankees, Mets, Rangers, New Jersey Devils and US Open Tennis tournament. I've contributed to NetsDaily and River Avenue Blues. I graduated from Fordham University and was a former on-air talent at NPR-affiliate WFUV (90.7 FM). You can find all my work posted on Twitter: @SSimineri