Tag: Vince Carter

The Vince Carter crying and screaming meme has taken over the internet in so many amazing ways

The Vince Carter meme is EVERYWHERE.

Vince Carter has been a meme in the past — I can’t tell you how many times I’ve used his “It’s over” GIF from the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest.

But now? Thanks to his crying and celebrating reaction to his jersey being retired in Toronto with the Raptors, he’s got a whole new meme that might be the biggest of 2024. He’s sobbing, shaking his hands and then screaming “COME ON!!!” to the grateful crowd. It’s wonderful, but also perfect meme fodder.

So here’s a roundup of some of the best ones we’ve seen from fans using the clip of the Hall of Famer:

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Vince Carter earns retirement gift, Raptors to honor him this weekend

It’s a good weekend to be Vince Carter.

When it comes to the best dunkers in basketball history, who are some names that come to mind?

For me, it’s former UNC standout Vince Carter, who truly developed himself into a star at the professional level.

Carter played at North Carolina for three seasons (1995-1996, 1996-1997, 1997-1998), helping his teammates make the Final Four twice. Carter averaged 12.3 points per game across his three years as a Tar Heel, highlighted by a career best 15.6 PPG in his final season.

Drafted fifth overall in the 1998 NBA Draft, Carter played 22 seasons with eight different teams, most notably his first six-and-a-half with the Toronto Raptors. Eight All-Star nods later and 21st on the NBA All-Time scoring list, Carter earned himself a 2024 Hall of Fame induction.

As a thank you for Carter’s service to the city of Toronto, Air Canada is also gifting Carter an A-220 aircraft – complete with his 15 on the side.

On Saturday, Nov. 2, Toronto will be also retiring Carter’s legendary number 15 during its game against the Los Angeles Lakers.

https://www.instagram.com/p/DB1op1RPpr4/?img_index=1

Carter’s jersey retirement also marks a historical moment, with his 15 the first number to be retired in Raptors’ franchise history.

Carter is arguably one of the greatest professional basketball players to never win a championship – or make one. Carter’s 2010 season with the Orlando Magic was the closest he got, as Orlando advanced to the Eastern Conference Finals, before losing to the now reigning NBA Finals champion Boston Celtics.

In 2000-2001 with Toronto, Carter averaged a career-best 27.6 points per game. This was one of Carter’s 10 seasons averaging a minimum 20 points per game, showcasing how efficient of a scorer he was.

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Roy Williams helped assist a big recruit to UNC while at Kansas

Roy Williams helped this recruit pick UNC over Duke.

Former North Carolina standout Vince Carter was inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame this past weekend, celebrating his historic career.

Before he played 22 seasons in the NBA, Carter played three years at North Carolina where he a two-time All-Atlantic Coast Conference selection and an All-American selection in his career. Carter will go down as an all-time great with the Tar Heels’ program and UNC fans can thank a legendary former coach for the assist.

During his speech, Carter brought up former UNC head coach Roy Williams who helped the Tar Heels land the talented recruit out of Florida while he was at….Kansas.

And Williams helped Carter pick UNC over Duke in his recruitment.

“Roy Williams, not only are you a diehard Tar Heel, but you are one hell of a person,” Carter said, pointing to Williams. “I never played for you, but you reach out to me if I’m one of your own. I thank you for that. He recruited me when he was at Kansas and came to my house. Halfway through the visit, Coach realized he may not be able to get me to come to Kansas. Then the conversation changed. I won’t reveal all that happened, but I ended up a Tar Heel. I didn’t go to Duke.”

That’s pretty awesome.

Williams is a Tar Heel but while he was at another school he helped his alma-mater land a big recruit.  And more importantly, pull him potentially away from Duke.

Carter also thanked his former coach Dean Smith in his induction speech as it was a big night for the forward.

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Bills release statement on former athlete group potentially buying stake in team

Bills release statement on former athlete group potentially buying stake in team

The Buffalo Bills have released a statement regarding a potential sale of a minority stake in the team following a report on Tuesday which indicated that might happen.

According to Sportico, a few former star athletes in Jozy Altidore, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are interested. The trio were recently spotted at the Bills’ “Monday Night Football” matchup against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

In the release, it was noted that owner Terry Pegula and his family is committed to keeping the team in western New York. No worries there.

But there was an admission that there has been some research into the possibility of this happening. There was no mention of any specific buyers, though.

The release can be found below:

Report: Group of former sports stars in talks to buy minority stake in Bills

Report: Group of former sports stars in talks to buy minority stake in Bills

Despite not having played in the NFL, a few former star athletes in Jozy Altidore, Vince Carter and Tracy McGrady are interested in buying a piece of the Buffalo Bills.

According to Sportico, the trio are in talks to purchase a minority stake in Buffalo’s football team. All have connections to Toronto professional teams during their playing days.

Carter and McGrady played in the NBA, meanwhile, Altidore is a former United States soccer player.

Re, Toronto: Carter and McGrady began their NBA careers with the Toronto Raptors and Altidore spent seven years with Toronto FC.

According to the Buffalo News, the Bills did not confirm the trio are interested in buying a minority stake specifically, but did tell the outlet that there has been a “significant amount of interest” from potential minority owners.

While there is no confirmation from the team, it makes sense. All three were spotted attending Buffalo’s “Monday Night Football” clash against the Jacksonville Jaguars.

While there might be some pause because of the Toronto connection… no need to worry. With a new stadium on the way and a 30-year lease on the docket for the Bills in Orchard Park… the team is not going anywhere.

In mid-April, The Athletic reported that the Terry Pegula owned team did express interest in selling to minority owners.

Bills Wire will provide updates as information in made available.

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Former UNC and NBA standout Vince Carter named cover athlete for popular video game

If you pick up a copy of the NBA 2K25 Hall of Fame Edition, you’ll recognize the cover athlete.

Outside of the late Kobe Bryant, I can’t think of a better basketball dunker than former North Carolina Tar Heel and longtime NBA veteran Vince Carter.

UNC was treated to three seasons of the high-flying Carter, who took UNC to the 1997 and 1998 Final Fours. He came off the bench for 12 games during his freshman season (1995-1996), then started all 72 games over his final two seasons, averaging a career-best 15.6 points per contest during his junior campaign (second Final Four run).

Carter truly cemented his basketball legacy in the NBA, starting with his 1999 Rookie of the Year award, as a Toronto Raptor.. He’d shortly after become an 8-time All-Star (2000-2007), average a minimum 20 points per game (regular-season career-best 27.6 in 2000-2001, playoffs career-high 29.6 in 2006) across 10 separate seasons, plus win the 2000 NBA Dunk Contest – all while playing for eight separate franchises.

To no one’s surprise, Carter is a 2024 inductee for the Naismith Hall of Fame. That’s not the only big news Carter recently received, though.

On Wednesday, Carter was announced as the cover athlete for NBA 2K25’s Hall of Fame Edition.

If you’re a gamer like myself, the Carter news has to excite you. You might also be wondering – how does the Hall of Fame Edition differ from the standard edition of NBA 2K?

Sports games tend to offer you gameplay opportunities with historic teams. If that’s the case, you should easily be able to play as Carter.

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Jayson Tatum and A’ja Wilson (and Vince Carter!) revealed as NBA 2K25 cover athletes

The Vince Carter cover is amazing.

It’ll be tough for any sports video game to generate excitement right now with the highly anticipated release of College Football 25 coming this month, but NBA 2K is going to try.

The popular basketball franchise revealed the cover athletes for its upcoming NBA 2K25 game, and they include a couple of champions in Jayson Tatum and A’ja Wilson, and Mr. Half Man, Half Amazing himself, Vince Carter.

Tatum is on the cover of the standard edition of NBA 2K25, while two-time MVP Wilson is on the WNBA edition cover. The two are featured side-by-side on the All-Star edition.

The legend Carter is on the Hall of Fame edition cover in a picture from his early days with the Toronto Raptors when he won the 2000 dunk contest, and it’s beautiful.

I feel confident saying that Carter cover is already one of the best 2K covers ever. It could also be a potential tease to something related to the dunk contest, which would be awesome.

Former Net Vince Carter had some advice for Timberwolves’ Mike Conley

Former Net Vince Carter had some important advice for Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley in terms of continuing to play.

As most fans of the Brooklyn Nets know by now, Vince Carter’s jersey will be retired at some point during the 2024-25 season. While many have wondered for a long time whether Carter’s jersey was going to be retired at all, what didn’t take long was Carter’s impact on a current NBA player just trying to keep going.

“One piece of advice I got from Vince Carter was not to put a number on it, man. Go until you can’t,” Minnesota Timberwolves guard Mike Conley said of Vince Carter to Marc J. Spears of Andscape. Conley spoke to Spears during Minnesota’s Western Conference Finals series against the Dallas Mavericks after the Timberwolves won Game 4 to bring their series deficit to 1-3.

“And obviously, I’d like to achieve certain milestones. You want to get to 20 (seasons). If you’re this close, why not? But at the same time, you just try to get as many as you can,” Conley said. Like Conley, Carter felt the same way about his career and has recently spoken about how Kobe Bryant helped him come to grips with retirement while in his final years in the league.

Granted, what Carter did for Conley was convince him to keep playing until he can’t anymore, it still highlights the impact that Carter had on the NBA and that impact is still felt by players in the league right now. Carter played 22 years in the NBA, including roughly five seasons for the Nets when they were in New Jersey, as he had the same wish that Conley has right now.

For someone as great as Carter was during his playing days in the league, he will also be remembered for the things that he provided outside of his play. In fact, he even imparted his wisdom on some member of the Nets earlier this season as he still carries the respect of one of the basketball greats.

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Vince Carter argues Kobe Bryant belongs in the GOAT debate with Jordan and LeBron

Vince Carter argues Kobe Bryant belongs in the GOAT debate with Michael Jordan and LeBron James.

These days the greatest of all time debate is usually between [autotag]Michael Jordan[/autotag] and Lebron James. However, soon-to-be Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer [autotag]Vince Carter[/autotag] feels there’s one name that should always be in that debate. 

While acknowledging the greatness Jordan and James brought to the court, Carter was vocal about the late great Kobe Bryant’s name being in the discussion. Carter’s main argument for having Bryant in the debate was his ability to mimic Jordan’s game.

The conversation took place on Bleacher Reports Taylor Rooks X podcast, with Carter breaking down Bryant’s greatness. Watch below how it all unfolds. 

Carter had the honor to play against Jordan, James, and Bryant. So, if there’s anyone who can weigh in on this debate, it would be him. It is always interesting to see who throws Bryant in their all-time debate, mostly from a slashing-style swingman.

Cater has embraced the next chapter of his career, becoming one of the best pro players to turn into a media personality. It’s nice hearing legends’ opinions on conversations like this to put things in perspective.

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Vince Carter: Kobe Bryant should be in the GOAT conservation

Many people underrate Kobe Bryant relative to the NBA’s other all-time greats, and Vince Carter feels that is wrong.

The decade of the 2000s was an era in which the NBA boasted some outstanding skill and talent at the wing position. One such standout wing was Vince Carter, who played 22 seasons and was one of the best and most exciting players in the league during his prime.

But of course, the best player of that decade was late Los Angeles Lakers legend Kobe Bryant. He led the Lakers to five NBA championships between the 1999-00 and 2009-10 seasons, and an argument could be made that he was the greatest closer in basketball history.

Yet Bryant’s name never comes up in the greatest of all time (GOAT) debates. Those debates only really include two men: Chicago Bulls great Michael Jordan and current Lakers superstar LeBron James.

Carter, who played against all three legends, said that Bryant should be at the center of those debates along with Jordan and James.

“I’m truly thankful I got a chance to play against Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant and of course LeBron,” said Carter. “I’m gonna name those three because we’re always talking about the greatest to play the game, Kobe Bryant should and will always, out of my mouth, be named as one of the greatest to ever play the game. They deserve to be talked about as a trio, not a duo.”

In 20 seasons, Bryant averaged 25.0 points, 5.2 rebounds and 4.7 assists a game (he was at 26.6 points, 5.6 boards and 5.0 assists per game as a starter). Those numbers may not scream “all-time great,” but it was his “Mamba Mentality” and a nearly pathological need to win, as well as his surreal set of skills, that made him much more special than those numbers would suggest.

“I don’t understand why,” Carter said when asked Bryant should be in the discussion and why he isn’t. “The approach of MJ was just like Kobe. He looked at the blueprint of MJ and he said, ‘I’m gonna do that and more.’ And he’s won, it’s proven. Why is he not in that conversation?”

Many would say Bryant wasn’t quite as great a player as Jordan or James, but he does belong in the highest stratosphere of basketball icons, along with Magic Johnson, Larry Bird and Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.