clock menu more-arrow no yes mobile

Filed under:

Vince Carter on Winging It podcast: “No chance” of entering dunk contest

The soon-to-be 43-year-old forward said while he appreciates his fans, the post-break stretch is very important to him.

NBA: Indiana Pacers at Atlanta Hawks Jason Getz-USA TODAY Sports

If you’ve watched a single Atlanta Hawks game this season, you might have heard this is Vince Carter’s final season in the NBA.

The first man to ever play in four different decades has received tribute-after-tribute, and he’s become the latest star to receive a farewell tour.

With two of the greatest players ever retiring last season in Dwyane Wade and Dirk Nowitzki, NBA commissioner Adam Silver decided to honor the legends by specially selecting them to play in the all-star game one last time.

The gesture has brought up the idea to do the same for Carter in the event he’s most famous for — the slam dunk contest.

On the latest episode of the Winging It podcast, host Annie Finberg asked Carter if he wanted to give the people what they wanted next month in Chicago.

“No chance,” Carter said.

Finberg then brought up former Hawks center Dwight Howard, who is reportedly returning to the contest 12 years after debuting his “Superman” dunk.

“I heard,” Carter said. “I also heard about my teammate Trae Young has put it out there that I should be in the contest.”

After Young posting his original endorsement for Carter, he later posted a post-practice dunk from the man himself.

At the time of the podcast recording, Carter said he didn’t have any plans of doing anything in Chicago during All-Star weekend.

“I appreciate a lot of the fans who tweet, [or] talk about putting me in the all-star game,” he said. “I don’t know. I just keep my mouth closed.”

Carter said the post-all-star break portion of the season is important to him because it’s the final time.

“I just want to make sure I have enough gas in the tank,” Carter said. “I want to lay it all on the line. That last hurrah. Play hard.”

When Finberg proposed the idea of him judging the contest, Carter fired back he might do it “via satellite.”

Carter judged the 2007 contest in Las Vegas alongside Dominique Wilkins, Julius Erving, Kobe Bryant and Michael Jordan. That was the year Howard put a sticker of his face at the top of the backboard, Gerald Green pumped up his kicks, and did Dee Brown’s signature dunk over Nate Robinson.

Green won after windmilling over a table. The front row of celebrities included Queen Latifah, Ciara, Chris Tucker, Usher, Sean Combs and Bobby Flay.