North Carolina Tar Heels: Vince Carter Still Amazes at Forty
Former North Carolina Tar Heels dunking legend Vince Carter still finds ways to get on highlight reels.
The North Carolina Tar Heels still have one Dean Smith era player still in the NBA. That would be Vince Carter. Carter is still playing with the Memphis Grizzlies. He can still dunk every now and then, but his role these days is more about shooting and playing whatever role he is asked.
Carter may only average 8.1 points a game in a career that will get some Hall of Fame consideration although it lacks a title, but he still can do the incredible from time to time. He added another such moment to his resume in the Grizzlies’ recent game against the San Antonio Spurs.
Carter became the rare player to block four shots in a game after age forty. Two of them were quite dramatic with Carter knocking down first LaMarcus Aldridge’s effort and then Kyle Anderson. While no one doubts that Carter can still fly on occasion, these two players both had a height advantage on the veteran swingman.
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Carter last achieved four blocks in the 2009 season. That was eight years ago. Perhaps more amazing is his company at getting four blocks at age forty. Tim Duncan did not do that. Dikembe Mutombo did not do that. One has to go back to Kareem Abdul-Jabbar to find a player who did it. Abdul-Jabbar is the only one, but Carter would need to do it twice more to tie the Lakers great at it.
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The Memphis Grizzlies are currently sixth place in the Western Conference. That should mean that Carter will get another playoff run to try and polish his resume. The Denver Nuggets are currently 8.5 games back in eighth, meaning no team is likely to keep them out.
Finally, perhaps we could make one more push to get Carter into the Dunk Contest just one more time.