With the 42-year-old Vince Carter announcing that 2019-20 is the last season of his career, it may be time to look back on his rich and long 21-season basketball career. Nicknamed "Half Man Half Amazing," he started his professional basketball career in Toronto.
At that time, the Toronto Raptors were only in their fourth year of joining the league. Although they still had former leader "Space Squirrel" Damon Stoudamire, the basketball atmosphere in the entire city had not yet taken shape, and a winning culture had not yet been cultivated. The Suns traded for Vince Carter from North Carolina.
Vince Carter's physical fitness is superb, and he is both powerful and beautiful when he takes off and dunks. Soon, his nickname of "Air Canada" spread like wildfire. The following will lead fans to review the wonderful things Vince Carter has brought to the Maple Leaf Country:
1. The beginning of the legend
- season: 1998-99 (first season of career)
- result:Tyrannosaurus 104-113 Rockets
- data:32 points, 2 rebounds, 6 assists, 1 steal, 1 block, FG 65%
The rookie season unexpectedly encountered the NBA's closed season, so Vince Carter only had 50 game opportunities; however, he became an instant success, averaging 18.3 points, 5.7 rebounds, 3.0 assists, 1.1 steals, and 1.5 blocks per game and easily won the Rookie of the Year award. , playing side by side with cousin Tracy McGrady also made people excited to watch. The future of the Toronto Raptors seemed to be in the hands of the two of them.
The match against the Houston Rockets was one of the most outstanding performances of the rookie VC. Throughout the game, he displayed three years of experience at North Carolina, constantly showing off various offensive skills, and more than once defeated "the second best man in the world" Scottie Pippen one-on-one. , and even easily showed off a 360-degree fast break dunk; although in the end they still lost to the luxurious Rockets teamed up with three Hall of Fame stars, VC, who scored a game-high 32 points, has already told the world that he will be the best in the league. Future focus.
2. Shoot downThe three musketeers
- season: 1999-00 (second season of career)
- result:Buck 110-115 Tyrannosaurus Rex
- data:47 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals, 2 blocks, FG 62.5%
After adapting in his rookie year, Carter completely evolved in the second year of his career. His scoring average increased directly to 25.7 points per game. He performed more staggering performances and could be said to have jumped into the ranks of superstars. Especially not long after the turn of the millennium, the Tyrannosaurus faced the Bucks three Musketeers at home, and Carter acted like "Lu Bu versus the Three Heroes", making long shots and close shots without any disadvantage.
Carter finally scored a career-high 47 points with a terrifying score of 20-for-32 shooting. Even though his opponents Ray Allen & Sam Casell & Glenn Robinson scored 86 points together, they were still unable to recover. The most exaggerated thing is undoubtedly the quick response at the critical moment. When attacking, VC's super big wheel dunk(2'50" in the video). The Canadian basketball god was born here, and everyone in the audience was a witness.
3. air canada
- season: 1999-00 (second season of career)
- result:Sun 102-103 Tyrannosaurus Rex
- data:51 points, 9 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals, FG 53.1%
Also in this season, Carter not only had outstanding personal statistics, but together with his cousin Tracy McGrady, he led the Raptors to the playoffs. The afterglow of 47 points at home has not dissipated. Carter and McGrady will also participate in the Slam Dunk Contest. The league also noticed that this Northland army is quite interesting. Therefore, before the star week, NBC specially changed the national broadcast content, and the Raptors appeared for the first time. Now on televisions across the country, they will face the Phoenix Suns, led by Rookie of the Year Jason Kidd.
As a result, VC added up his career scoring high, scoring a new high of 51 points. He defeated the strong enemy Suns by himself, and even more severely defeated Jason Kidd (9 points, 4 rebounds, 4 assists). This record still stands high in team history, and only Terrence Ross has ever equaled it. The Toronto Raptors also appeared in front of fans across the United States with a new look through this national broadcast.
4. Canadian Jordan
- season:2000 Slam Dunk Contest
- result:Slam Dunk Contest Champion
- data:50 points, 49 points, 50 points, 50 points, 48 points
Sirs and ladies, you can go home! competition is over.
Marv Albert, TSN anchor/ Doug Collins, TSN Football Commentary
From the first day of the Advancement League, Carter has continuously shocked fans with his monster physical fitness. In less than two seasons, he relied on various incredible pulls, goals, and slam dunks to win the "Half Man and Half" title. "God" (Half-Man/Half-Amazing) and "Air Canada" (Air Canada).
However, the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest was the stage that truly made Carter famous. Prior to this, the Slam Dunk Contest had been suspended for 2 years because it could not come up with new tricks. After the closure of the competition the previous year, in order to revive the reputation of the Slam Dunk Contest, the league specially invited young jumping stars from all over the league to perform. Vince Carter, it was indeed the right choice.
"A 360-degree windmill dunk", "A 180-degree windmill spin after rebounding", "Double-stepping and switching hands for dunk", "Buried elbow dunk" and "Gliding with both hands in front of the free throw line"... Vince Carter led one of the best Slam Dunk Contests in the history of the world; without a doubt, he finally took home the Slam Dunk Contest championship trophy.
Further reading:The legend takes off! Vince Carter's 2000 Slam Dunk Contest Oral History
5. The final departure
- season：2003-04 (sixth season of career)
- result:Tyrannosaurus 121-120 Wasp
- data:42 points, 6 rebounds, 12 assists, 2 steals, 1 block, FG 65%
Fast forward to the 2003-04 season. Different from the high-spiritedness of the first three seasons, Vince Carter gradually suffered from injuries in the late period of the Raptors. He missed 71 games in the past three seasons. After the Raptors uniform reorganization, many problems occurred with the team. Friction; even the past incident of taking time off to attend the college graduation ceremony in the 2001 Eastern Conference championship game was dug up and criticized by interested parties. Although Carter is Canada's number one star, he has become distant from the Raptors at this time.
Just before Air Canada was about to ground its flights, on March 21, 2004, this was Carter's last 40+ gift to the Tyrannosaurus. Facing the Hornets led by Baron Davis, the two armies fought until the overtime. Carter was once again his familiar self from outside the three-point line in the last 20 seconds at 116-117 - he soared into a long-range fatal three-pointer. The rebound directly reversed the game, and finally took away the victory.
Vince Carter didn't say a word after making the reversal, and walked off the bench with a confident smile; perhaps at this time he no longer felt the meaning of winning for this city. The Raptors missed the playoffs again that season, and the team's intention to rebuild also made VC shout "Sell me"; after playing 20 games for the Raptors the following season, the trade was finally launched, and the Raptors packaged Vince Carter. Heading to New Jersey, Air Toronto is officially decommissioned.
Be
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