VINSANITY: ACCN to Celebrate Vince Carter's Basketball Career and Retirement

The ACC Network will celebrate Carter's basketball career and retirement with a five-game marathon, June 20th.

Transcript

00:00 It feels like Vince Carter's been around forever, but this was set to be his final season.

00:06 It was halted, if not ended, prematurely.

00:09 For more, I'm joined by SI senior writer Chris Mannix, who had a chance to catch up with Vince Carter.

00:14 Chris, how does he reflect on this moment in time?

00:17 You might think that Vince Carter would be disappointed in seeing a 22-year NBA career end

00:23 in a meaningless regular season game against the New York Knicks,

00:26 but when I talked to Carter, he was surprisingly at peace with how his career ended.

00:30 I mean, he maybe doesn't have the same type of career as a Kobe Bryant or a Dirk Nowitzki,

00:36 two players that were celebrated in their final years,

00:39 but this is a guy that played more seasons than anyone in NBA history.

00:43 This was Air Canada, the former slam dunk champion and eight-time All-Star.

00:48 You would think that he would deserve more than to see his career end so quietly,

00:52 but Vince, like he always is, seems very calm about it, very at ease about it,

00:57 says he enjoyed his experience in Atlanta, says he did things his way,

01:01 and he's happy if this is how his career ends.

01:03 You know, Chris, it's interesting because he adapted to being a role player so well.

01:08 How do you think that impacts the way he's perceived overall,

01:12 going from a star to such a high-quality role player?

01:16 Yeah, it's really interesting because you can count on one hand the number of, you know,

01:21 superstars, former MVP candidates like Vince Carter,

01:25 who have successfully transitioned into the role of role player.

01:29 I mean, we can count countless examples of players that haven't been able to do it,

01:34 from Allen Iverson to Carmelo Anthony, but Vince Carter,

01:37 because he was able to humble himself at the midpoint of his career,

01:41 was able to extend it by almost another decade.

01:44 When I asked him about this, he said it wasn't anything specific.

01:47 He just realized at a certain point he was no longer going to be able to do the things physically

01:53 that he was able to do, so he adapted.

01:55 He studied tapes of players like Vinnie Johnson, the former Pistons sixth man.

02:00 He watched in real time players like Manu Ginobili and Jason Terry,

02:04 former starters who adapted to the sixth-man role themselves.

02:08 He really was able to accept his own limitations, and that made him a successful role player.

02:15 Yeah, it's amazing to see him fly above the rim and then adapt in his older age.

02:20 Chris, appreciate your time as always.

02:22 You got it.

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