Imagine Vince Carter, one of the most prolific dunkers in basketball history, returning to the NBA Slam Dunk Contest at age 39.
That's the rumor, anyway, but Carter said recently it's just that — a rumor. Carter hasn't competed in the contest since winning it in 2000, and the man once dubbed 'Half-Man, Half-Amazing" for his high-flying style of play says he's not appearing in the contest in February.
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The rumor seems to stem from a video that recently appeared on YouTube in which Carter supposedly said it would be “interesting, to say the least" if he appeared in the contest in February. He said he was actually referring to another event, last year's P3 Training Camp.
“I heard about that video way after the fact,” Carter told NBA.com recently. “All of a sudden people were like, ‘You’re in the dunk contest?’ I was like, ‘Where is this coming from?’ Whatever clown that reported it, it’s like, just call the source first. Just ask me! Come to any training camp and ask me.”
Now in his 19th NBA season, the Grizzlies forward is more subject to the laws of gravity than in his early years, when every game brought the possibility of Carter doing something spectacular (remember when he jumped over the head of a 7-footer dunking the ball in international competition?). Carter concedes he can't do the kind of dunks the younger stars are jamming home today.
“I could probably do one, and I’d probably need a day before I’d do another," he said in the interview. "I could do some stuff, but not enough to win a dunk contest. With what these guys are doing now? Yeah, right.”
For now, we're left with only memories (OK, and video) of Carter on that night when he won the 2000 Slam Dunk competition.
Carter says he's been baffled by the rumors he plans to compete again in the contest.
"Why would I want to mess with the memory of that magical night back in 2000?” he said.