Vince Carter
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Carter,_Vince_(0032).JPG
He was a McDonald's All-American Player in 1995 [1] (http://www.mcdonaldsallamerican.com/alumni03_nba.htm).
He attended the University of North Carolina for three years. He was then picked fifth overall in the 1998 NBA draft by the Golden State Warriors and immediately traded to the Toronto Raptors for the rights to college teammate Antawn Jamison. Up until his trade on December 17, 2004, he was the franchise player for the Raptors, in addition to amazing fans with spectacular slam dunks. He easily won the Rookie of the Year Award for the 1998-99 season. Next year, Carter was selected to be an All Star for the first time, and showcased his athleticism by winning the NBA Slam Dunk Contest. He has been an All Star several times since then, and has been consistently voted into the starting lineup through fan balloting. As of 2005, Carter has averaged 23.9 PPG, 5.3 RPG and 4.0 APG. His career high in points was 51 on February 27, 2000 against the Phoenix Suns.
He is a distant cousin of former Raptors teammate Tracy McGrady, who plays for the Houston Rockets.
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 [2] (http://www.nba.com/games/20010520/TORPHI/recap.html).
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. In early January 2005, he admitted in a television interview with TNT's John Thompson to not giving effort in his last months as a Raptor; when asked if he always played hard, Carter replied, "In years past, no. I was fortunate to have the talent. You get spoiled when you’re able to do a lot of things. You see that you don’t have to work at it.” Carter's play improved considerably with the Nets, leading to a resurgence in his popularity and his image as one of the NBA's more talented players.
Carter was listed as the greatest dunker of all time by a December 2002 issue of SLAM magazine.
External Link
- Carter's official Site (http://www.vincecarter15.com/)
| 2000 Olympic Champions Men's Basketball |
| Shareef Abdur-Rahim | Ray Allen | Vin Baker | Vince Carter | Kevin Garnett | Tim Hardaway | Allan Houston | Jason Kidd | Antonio McDyess | Alonzo Mourning | Gary Payton | Steve Smith |
| Coach Rudy Tomjanovich |