Vince Carter’s Refreshing View On Ring Chasing Will Make Boogie Cousins Blush

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When Vince Carter decides to hang up his kicks after a Hall of Fame worthy NBA career spanning over to decades and counting, it will sting. The 41-year-old is the oldest player in the NBA and a walking relic whose bones deserve to be assembled like a T-Rex in the Springfield, Massachusetts.

Carter AKA Vinsanity AKA Air Canada AKA Half-Man, Half-Amazing is entering his 21st season in the NBA and recently reached an agreement with the lowly Atlanta Hawks, signing a one-year, $2.4 million contract with a team whose last championship in 1958 is second to only the Sacramento Kings in the longest stretch without a championship.

Suffice it to say, Carter’s 20+ years of balling on eight different squads will likely prove meaningless in his quest for the ultimate prize.

The eight-time All-Star hasn’t ruled out the possibility of joining a contender next season but claims he’s ’90-something percent’ sure that he’ll retire after the upcoming season.

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In a recent conference call for the Jr. NBA World Championships, Carter spoke about his views on jumping on a juggernaut to ring chase.

Via ESPN:

“I come from an era where that’s not how it was. So that’s still instilled in me. And I don’t have any problem with how it’s done now. (It’s) just not for me.”

“I still want to play the game,” Carter, the oldest player in the NBA said. “Whatever minutes are there, I want (them).”

The man who revolutionized the dunk contest in 2000 averaged 5.4 points per game for the Kings last year, a far cry from his ’00-’01 campaign in which he averaged 27.6 ppg. Age has evidently caught up to him, but has not diminished his passion.

“It’s a love. It’s tough to walk away. Obviously when it’s time, it’s time,” he said. “But I’m still passionate about it.”

Vince Carter is the reason I hate the over-emphasis of championship wins as a barometer for legacy. I grew up in the 90s and I know I’m not alone when I say Vince’s game and transcendent abilities inspired me in a way comparable to Jordan’s. Adam Fucking Morrison has two championship rings and I’ll be damned if anyone is considering him for the HOF.

In the end, we won’t know what we had until it’s gone.

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[h/t ESPN]

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Matt’s love of writing was born during a sixth grade assembly when it was announced that his essay titled “Why Drugs Are Bad” had taken first prize in D.A.R.E.’s grade-wide contest. The anti-drug people gave him a $50 savings bond for his brave contribution to crime-fighting, and upon the bond’s maturity 10 years later, he used it to buy his very first bag of marijuana.