Vince Carter Biography

Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, USA, on January 26, 1977, Vincent Lamar Carter showed his basketball skills from a very early age. During his high school years, he was awarded the McDonald's All-American Player award in 1995, and it was not long before the NBA was looking at him during the draft. After playing college basketball for the University of North Carolina, he was picked 5th overall in the 1998 draft, where he was traded to the Toronto Raptors. With his winning style and talent, he was awarded the 1998-1999 NBA Rookie of the Year Award, which earned him a coveted spot on the NBA All-Star team. During this game, he showed off his talents by competing in a slam-dunk competition, and mopping the floor with the other competitors.

One of the highlights of his career was during the 2000 Summer Olympics, when he “flew” over French player Frederic Weis, who stands a little over 7 feet tall, to make a slam dunk The French media dubbed this “flight” the “dunk of death” and it was pictured and played all over the world's media stations. Due to this famous score, he has become one of the top advertisers for Nike, along with some of the other stars of the era like LeBron James and Kobe Bryant.

Due to a couple of missed shots and some other issues during his 2001-2002 season, Carter was becoming disillusioned with the Raptors. In the 2002-2003, season he was asked to join the NBA All-Stars once more, but gave up his seat there to Michael Jordan, who was playing for the Washington Wizards, so that Jordan could have a final appearance in the All-Star games.

After the 2004 season, Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets. In January of 2005, he was accused of tipping off an opposing team to throw the game in their favor, by alerting an opposing member when a Raptor player was getting near them. Disappointing many fans around the country, he admitted to these allegations. When he returned to Canada with the Nets to play the Raptors in 2005, he was booed and heckled constantly throughout the pre-game and the game due to the upset fans in attendance.

In 2006, he was asked to play in the NBA All-Star Game in Houston since Jermaine O'Neal could not play due to an injury suffered in the season. After his winning season in 2005-2006, this was just the topping on the cake for Carter, who helped to lead the Nets to over 45 wins, the Atlantic Division title, and a playoff position. But, he has severed all ties with Toronto and Canada due to his problems there after the “tipoff” incident.

Carter and his wife, Ellen, have one daughter, Kai. The family lives in New Jersey, where Carter is still a mighty member of the New Jersey Nets. Due to the problems with the “tipoffs” and the admissions, Carter is still not speaking to his paternal family.