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It’s time to celebrate something Vince Carter doesn’t like discussing regularly.
I got to know Carter a bit when he played for the Sacramento Kings during the 2017-18 season. That’s when I learned he doesn’t talk a lot about his dunks — he doesn’t know how much more he can say about them. It’s something he mentioned again when I ran into him in February during NBA All-Star weekend in San Francisco.
Sorry, Mr. Carter, but we’ve got to talk about that dunk from 25 years ago. The one from the 2000 Olympics in Sydney. Thaaaaaaaaat dunk.
Arguably, the dunk of all dunks happened on Sept. 25, 2000. Team USA was competing in its final preliminary-round game against France. The Americans won 106-94, but no play would be more memorable than what occurred near the 16-minute mark of the second half.
Gary Payton drove the lane and missed a layup. Vin Baker and France’s Frédéric Weis battled for a rebound, which France controlled. Yann Bonato attempted a behind-the-back bounce pass to start a transition break, but the pass was intercepted by Carter, who had a 7-foot-2 tower between him and the basket.
The 6-foot-6 Carter took off and soared over Weis. Literally.
The French media referred to it as “le dunk de la mort,” meaning “the dunk of death.” Weis said 15 years later that at that moment he “learned people could fly.”
Carter had nicknames like “Air Canada,” “Vinsanity” and “Half-Man/Half-Amazing” because of his incredible athleticism. On that play, he made believers out of everybody.
Twenty-five years ago, that play set the bar for in-game highlights. It’s one thing to dunk on a center. It’s another to jump over a 7-plus-footer and do it.
That’s something players have tried to imitate in dunk contests for years (remember when Aaron Gordon dunked over 7-foot-6 Tacko Fall during the 2020 NBA Slam Dunk Contest?).
However, having a center stand near the basket for a contest and pulling off the feat spontaneously in a game are two different levels.
Carter might be the best dunker in basketball history, but he was more than that throughout his 22 years in the NBA.
He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024. His No. 15 is retired by the Toronto Raptors and Brooklyn Nets, and he has a collection of feats on the court that cemented him as one of the game’s greats. Carter had had multiple game-winning shots in his career. His corner 3-pointer swish, while playing for the Dallas Mavericks in the 2014 playoffs, remains a topic of discussion.
However, many remember Carter as an elite dunker. And that’s not a bad thing.
Carter’s 2000 highlight reel featured a few slams that shook the basketball world in February in Oakland, Calif. First, fans watched his legendary showing at the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and then saw him put on a show the next day, playing in his first All-Star Game.
Seven months later, he helped Team USA win a gold medal. What many didn’t know — and probably still don’t 25 years later — is that Carter led that team in scoring, averaging 14.8 points per game. That production came from a 23-year-old Carter who wasn’t originally selected to be on the team. He was added to the roster as an injury replacement after Tom Gugliotta sustained a knee injury months before Olympic competition.
Carter excelled in Sydney on a team that also featured Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Alonzo Mourning, Gary Payton and Jason Kidd. Carter was the youngest member of the team. He also had the least amount of NBA experience on the squad.
However, look at his legacy now.
Carter retired from playing in 2020 and has since served as an analyst for ESPN and Turner Sports. He will be an analyst for NBC this season.
That means he might have to discuss a dunk or two. And he might have to hear about the dunks of today compared to what he delivered for more than two decades playing in the NBA and in college at North Carolina.
However, it won’t stop us from celebrating the times he showed the world he could fly.
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Jason Jones is a staff writer for The Athletic, covering Culture. Previously, he spent 16 years at the Sacramento Bee, covering the Sacramento Kings and Oakland Raiders. He’s a proud Southern California native and a graduate of the University of California at Berkeley Follow Jason on Twitter @mr_jasonjones
