“It’d Have Been a Little Different”: Vince Carter Looks Back at His Last Shot in the NBA

After playing in the NBA for 22 years, Vince Carter announced his retirement from professional basketball.

“I’m officially done playing basketball professionally,” Carter said on Thursday on the Winging it podcast.

Carter started his NBA career with Toronto Raptors in 1998. He played six years for the Raptors before moving to New Jersey Jets. Carter later had a few more changes in his teams playing for Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies, and Sacramento Kings. He signed with Atlanta Hawks in 2018 at the age of 41, where he ended his career.

One of the greatest dunkers of all-time, he was an eight-time NBA All-Star.

Vince Carter scored a three-pointer in his final game

Carter’s last game came prior to the league’s suspension when he made a three-pointer in a 136-131 loss to the New York Knicks. It remains the last shot in his legendary career and the fact that it went in made Carter’s decision to retire easier for him.

“I think if I didn’t make my last shot, it’d have been a little different. I’d have been itching to at least get back and just play one minute and just make one shot,” he said on the Winging It podcast (H/T BBC Sports). “I’m not going to say since March 11 [I knew I was going to retire], I’m not going to say since that day, but pretty close.

“With the coronavirus, it was taking people’s lives rapidly -that’s the big picture in my mind. I was able to put the weird ending, the abrupt stoppage of play to an ending, aside for the bigger picture.”

Born in Florida, Carter played football and volleyball at high school before moving to basketball. He was a star man in the Mainland’s basketball team with over 2000 points and over 1000 rebounds for them. Vince played college basketball for the University of North Carolina before coming into the NBA. He won two consecutive AAC Basketball tournaments with North Carolina.

Carter continued his coursework at North Carolina even after coming into the NBA and graduated with a degree in African-American studies in 2000.