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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.
Hey @NBA , why don't you invite Vince Carter and me at the dunk contest for the remake of 2000 olympics !
— Fred Weis (@Bigfredstyle) January 7, 2020
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.
This somethin slight... #HalfManHalfAmazing @mrvincecarter15 pic.twitter.com/8ayQLRKqxC
— Trae Young (@TheTraeYoung) January 10, 2020
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.