As the Paris Olympic Games are once again an opportunity to remember his “dunk of the century”, achieved 24 years ago, Vince Carter was recently on the campus of his old Mainland High School at his home in Daytona Beach.
Every summer, for four days, he holds his traditional basketball camp for 7-17 year olds. An event that is particularly close to his heart, far from the glitz and the Olympic news.
“It’s always great to come back and give back (to people)”, he confided. “We do this with my family, there are no outsiders. It’s our family where we all think the same way, with this passion that we have for the kids. All my family members work in education or in sectors where they help others. That’s what we need here. There’s a great energy. It’s my name on the jerseys, but everyone works hard for the kids. It’s just great to see them all have this passion to help the little ones grow.”
It is not known whether, like other former NBA superstars, Vince Carter plans to go to France to attend the Olympics, but we do know that his return will be full of tributes and emotions. “Vinsanity” will be in Springfield on October 13 to be inducted into the Hall of Fame, in order to reward his entire body of work.
A moment he is waiting for with great impatience, he who still has to pinch himself to realize that Jerry Colangelo's phone call was not an April Fool's joke.
“'Welcome to the Hall of Fame. You're in.' I heard it, but I had to concentrate not to say, 'Are you sure?' Just because it was April Fools' Day. So I waited a second, and it finally sunk in.”.
The Hall of Fame, NBA 2K… and then what?
Beyond his profile as a scorer and dunker, Vince Carter was honored for his longevity since he played in the league for 22 seasons. Only Robert Parish, also a Hall of Famer, has achieved such a feat, a testament to their love for basketball at the highest level.
“If you think about these 22 years, the ups and downs, the joys and disappointments are all mixed together,” he added. “I look back on these 22 years and I'm proud of them. I'm happy to have been able to experience all the things I've been able to experience – good and bad – that have led me to this honor.”
To top it all off, Vince Carter also learned that the Nets were retiring his jersey. But also that NBA 2K had chosen him for a “Hall of Fame” edition of NBA 2K25, with a photo of one of his most memorable dunks from the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest on the cover. Enough to fill the former NBA superstar with joy, he who always seems surprised to receive so many distinctions of this kind.
“It was definitely an emotional roller coaster.”concludes Vince Carter. “It’s so surreal… When I got the call and said I was going to be in the Hall of Fame, I was like, ‘Are you sure? Are you serious?’ When I watched the video announcing that my jersey was going to be retired with the Nets, I remember watching that video and thinking, ‘Really?’ And to get that call from 2K saying, ‘We want you as our cover athlete,’ it’s like, ‘Now what else is going to happen?’”
Just as one might wonder what the craziest thing he could achieve after climbing Mount Weis in Sydney almost 24 years ago, one has to expect anything with “Half-man half amazing”…
