It’s been two decades since Vince Carter walked across the stage at the NBA Draft and while he’s still getting up for dunks in his 40s, he admitted it comes with a bit more thought now.
“Oh it’s a lot different,” he told For The Win on Thursday. “It’s not as bad going up, it’s just coming down. The landing part – that’s the biggest difference as far as discomfort I guess. I used to be able to fly around with ease and not think about the consequences as a 20-year-old. And now it’s strategically planned out in only certain moments now.”
Carter spoke to FTW after giving dunk tips as part of a lifetime experience for a group of Verizon’s Up program members.
So what moments require a dunk now?
Am I willing to endure the pain coming down? If not it’s all layups.
I saw you talking the other day about how after you dunked on Alonzo Mourning he didn’t talk to you for like seven years. Is there anyone else who’s given you the silent treatment after a dunk?
No. That was the first. It was just a little weird actually. It’s just competitive sports and if were to block the dunk than we have a conversation and we move on. It was just a basketball play that of course, I don’t even think social media was as big at the time, so I don’t think it was a trending topic. It was talked about on SportsCenter but usually within a few days or a week it’s gone. I don’t know. I never asked him why, put it that way.
I guess that would be a tough conversation to have right now. I feel like that’s got to be a Turner TV special in the making where you guys sit down and break that down.
I could see that happening. I don’t see him agreeing to that.
What memories do you have getting drafted and what advice do you have for everyone getting drafted tonight?
I think it’s the unknown. There’s a select few guys each and every year who know exactly where they’re going, whether it’s the first pick or to any team at that point. For me, it was a window of the third pick to the eighth pick. As people come off the board, you tend to narrow it down and you get a general idea of where you could end up.
Leading up to it is nerve-wracking enough as far as wondering if your workouts were good enough to impress a team. Or if you work out for a team you want to go to, you hope you played well enough. The actual draft day, you can’t prepare any kid for that. You can tell them what it’s like, how it will feel and it’s nothing that can prepare you for actually being in the moment as far as ‘my dream is about to come true.’
These guys are about to walk into a great opportunity. A lot of money and once their name is called they change the lives of not only themselves but those of their families as well. They have a tough responsibility as far as that too. Their duty is as an NBA player now and this is your job and getting the family to understand that this is your job, not that you’ve made it. You’ve just kind of opened the door of the opportunity to now try to stay in the NBA.
What did you to celebrate getting drafted?
We were in Vancouver so I feel like next door there was a Benihana’s or something. We were sitting up there at Benihana watching our food get cooked and it was just weird. That’s what I remember.
It was so long ago. I do remember being annoyed because I got tired of the fire blowing in my face. There was a lot going on because I was traded so I was trying to take it all in … it was weird.
What’s the best financial advice that you got?
Put yourself on an allowance, which sounds crazy obviously but I think particularly in your first contract you want to make sure you’re above water to even make it to your second contract where you can live comfortably and a lot of these guys who are going to get drafted today are going to live comfortably obviously but you still need to save it.
For all the contracts that are guaranteed, that doesn’t mean it’s going to last you.
That’s what I was told. Put yourself on a budget.
My mother is a business major and that’s her thing and I have an accountant, a great accountant, to this day even. We haven’t annoyed each other to where we have separated so he’s always been in my corner.
There’s tough lessons to learn in the beginning and he’s like ‘enjoy your life but being frugal is not a bad thing.’
What are you going to do next year and what do you think Lebron is going to do next year?
I’m going to play next year. I plan on playing next year.
LeBron … I honestly think he’s going to move elsewhere. He kept his promise in bringing Cleveland a championship. I don’t know where. Los Angeles makes sense for his family in that he bought a house there, his son committed to a high school there in LA (editor’s note: This seems to be news to the high school he’s reportedly committed to and based solely on a rumor that Gary Payton started).
So one could assume he’s either going to play for the Clippers or the Lakers.
But you never know. It always comes down to the last hour. That’s when it’s crunch time and you have to make those decisions. But my decision’s pretty easy.