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Vince Carter flawlessly recalls one of his first-ever highlights against Indiana Pacers: 'It was just pretty cool'

Carter was a rookie when he had a highlight against the Pacers

Tony East

Vince Carter flawlessly recalls one of his first-ever highlights against Indiana Pacers: 'It was just pretty cool'
Vince Carter flawlessly recalls one of his first-ever highlights against Indiana Pacers: 'It was just pretty cool' /

INDIANAPOLIS — Vince Carter had dozens of iconic dunks during his NBA and international career. That's why when young players, including Indiana Pacers guard Bennedict Mathurin, are asked which players would be in their dream dunk contest, they rush to say Carter's name.

"Vince Carter," Mathurin answered first with little hesitation. Dominique Wilkins came next, then Zach LaVine and Obi Toppin were his final names after some thought. But Carter was a must-have in the competition, and for good reason — his highlight dunks were among the best ever.

It's natural that Mathurin, who was born in Montreal, gravitates toward Carter. The former Rookie of the Year and eight-time All-Star got his career started with the Toronto Raptors, who were the only NBA team in Canada at the time Mathurin was born. And Carter was electric. He could fly above the rim and became an All-Star in just his second NBA campaign.

This weekend, Carter was named a finalist for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall Of Fame. Matt Winer of NBATV revealed all of the finalists in Lucas Oil Stadium on Friday night, and Pacers owner Herb Simon was among the group. 

For Carter, it was a special moment. Beyond all the dunks and highlights, he had a lengthy, impactful career. He never wanted to stop playing, even though his final few seasons damaged his career stats.

"I still enjoyed playing. Numbers didn't matter," Carter shared. "I was more so thankful and prideful that I was 43 and still playing against 19, 20, 21 year olds. And can hold my own."

For Carter, it was all about that enjoyment even in his mid-forties. His resume is strong anyway: eight All-Star games, two All-NBA spots, a Rookie of the Year trophy, a trip to the Conference Finals, and countless Team USA successes. He's a near-lock to be in the Hall Of Fame even after becoming a reserve role player for the final portion of his career.

"I enjoyed to play," Carter said. "I don't care about career averages."

Young players like Mathurin are often fans of Carter. So are some much older veterans. Former Pacers center Tristan Thompson as well as current Raptors forward Kelly Olynyk are among players who shared the court with Carter and told him that they had his poster on their walls growing up.

"It's pretty darn cool," Carter said of that reality, as well as younger players putting him in their dream dunk contest.

The 2024 Hall Of Fame finalist announcement taking place in Indianapolis was fitting because that's the site of one of Carter's first highlight dunks. On February 24, 1999, Carter was playing his 10th career game — a matchup with the Indiana Pacers in Market Square Arena.

The Raptors were getting crushed. They were down 19 points in the second quarter, and halftime was less than three minutes away. Indiana finished with the fourth-best record in the NBA that season, Toronto finished in the lottery.

Even with talent across from him, Carter was fearless. Chris Mullin, a Hall Of Famer, was guarding the Raptors rookie. Future All-Star Dale Davis and former All-Star Rik Smits were waiting under the rim. There wasn't much space for creativity.

Yet Carter found some wiggle room. The 22-year old drove toward the baseline to get around Mullin before leaping toward the basket. In the air, he double clutched to keep the ball away from the rotating Davis, then threw down a reverse dunk so that Smits couldn't block a layup attempt.

"I remember the dunk. I did that dunk trying to protect myself because I thought Dale Davis was going to take me out," Carter shared in Lucas Oil Stadium over the weekend. "Going past Chris Mullin — and Chris Mullin and I had a conversation about it actually — I knew I could go by him. I see Rik Smits, I was like 'okay, cool'. I also see Dale Davis on the other side. That was more protecting myself, initially thinking 'oh, reverse layup'. But there's a rim. I dunked it, and I ran about my business."

The highlight was impressive, and Carter had the best game of his career to that point that night. He finished with 28 points and 10 rebounds, which were both career highs, as Indiana beat Toronto by 20. The North Carolina product was clearly a mega talent already.

"After the game, Dale Davis said 'You're lucky I like you because I would have hurt you. I would have taken you out of the air'. It was just pretty cool," Carter remembers. "I was like 'whew, ok. Moving on'. But that's just how the NBA was, man. You just knew, it was a consequence when you went up there. But I didn't care at that time."

Carter would go on to have several iconic dunks, including the honey dip dunk in the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest and the dunk of death over Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics. There are countless more. His double-clutch reverse slam against Indiana was one of his first show-stopping highlights as a pro, and he was fittingly named a Hall Of Fame finalist just over one mile away from the location of that play 25 years later.

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Tony East
TONY EAST

Tony East is the Publisher of AllPacers. He has previously written for Forbes Sports, the West Indianapolis Community News, WTHR, and more while hosting the Locked On Pacers podcast.

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