Vince Carter’s Legendary 2000 Dunk Contest: Learn about a former NBA star’s life-changing moment

Imagine that. Teenager Kobe Bryant won the 1997 Slam Dunk Contest. Then the NBA felt competition was waning, the lockout canceled All-Star Weekend, the season resumed, and basketball was having a wild time up north. The Toronto Raptors’ new rookie had a late start to the season but made the most of it, throwing 360s and one-handed reverse layups to lead the once-struggling team to victories. The Rookie of the Year award went to Raptors rookie Vince Carter, and the NBA thought, “What if this guy was in the Slam Dunk Contest?” And so they brought one of the highlights of the All-Star Back on the weekend.

“What the dunk contest did for me changed my life overnightsaid Vince Carter 24 years after the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, shortly before his induction into the Naismith Memorial Hall of Fame. Carter rose to the first round of voting from the moment he arrived in the league. And made the benchmark of the Slam Dunk Contest a 360-degree reverse windmill, between the legs, Dunk of Death.

The lead-up

The Slam Dunk Contest wasn’t the same as it was in the Julius Erving and Dominique Wilkins era of the late ’90s. The fans liked it, but the NBA players weren’t interested. Vince Carter would begin his career in 1998 after an All-Star weekend without a slam dunk. However, the lockout postponed his NBA debut until 1999.

In 10 games, the Raptors rookie established himself as a high flyer. He broke out the inverted 360 windmill and one-handed layups and danced to the chants of Air Canada in the former Air Canada Center.

Carter led the Raptors to their first playoff season in 2000, making his first All-Star appearance, with his participation in the Slam Dunk Contest being the most anticipated segment. Steve Francis of Houston, Ricky Davis of Charlotte, Jerry Stackhouse of Detroit and Larry Hughes of Philadelphia attended. His Raptors teammate and cousin Tracy McGrady was both an opponent and an assistant. In five steps he inspired a generation of slam artists.

The dunks

Ernie Johnson and Kenny “The Jet” Smith (who had three slam dunk performances in his career) sparked the contest. Before the show, Carter told Ernie that he had made four dunks that no one had ever seen before. He started his first attempt with his best move from his rookie season – his signature 360-degree inverted windmill in one attempt. It looked much smoother and higher without Chris Mullins being dunked. Kenny yelled, “Let’s go home” After the first shot was fired and the All-Stars were on their feet in the stands, Shaquille O’Neal and Kevin Garnett couldn’t pick their jaws off the floor. The crowd held up tens everywhere from the start as he hit a perfect 40.

Isiah Thomas, who brought the Raptors to Canada, grinned “you won’t believe this” as Carter emerged from behind the rim for his second attempt. Another spin that won over the crowd, but not a perfect 50. Kenny kept the 1st point because it didn’t meet the literal high bar set by the first dunk.

Carter literally recovered with an assist from T-Mac, who casually and perfectly timed the ball to his cuz. Vince caught it, pushed it between his legs and threw it into the basket. Zeke couldn’t sit, stop smiling, or lower his arms while Kenny screamed, “It’s over!” Even Carter gestured to the camera that it was over, and the judges rushed him to congratulate him after this 50-point spectacle.

He reached the final with 100 points, while T-Mac finished with just under 99 points and Francis reached the final of the competition with 95 points.

For the first shot of the final, he performed a classic “elbow on the rim” dunk. In hindsight, he later said he was afraid of hurting himself, but at least Shaq was intrigued. Kenny wanted a timeout to stop Isiah from bringing his crazy newbie into this competition and blowing them away.

On his second attempt he managed a “smart, safety dunk” as Kenny described it: He jumped from the free throw line, almost floated forward and did a two-handed dunk. That brought him to his lowest score tonight, 48. But when Francis finished with 91 points and McGrady finished with 77, Air Canada was the 2000 Slam Dunk Champion.

The consequences

Zach Lavine’s 2016 Dunk Contest is the only one that has come close to matching the hype of the revived 2000 edition. The human highlight reel Dominique Wilkins himself ranked this contest on par with his and Michael Jordan’s showdown in 1985.

In 2018, both Slam artists sat side by side as Carter explained why he never competed again. “I knew I could do it, but after a while – just like you, and I know you’ll agree – if I do it, I’ll do it against the best competition. I want the best athletes. Whoever you think is the best, let’s do it. If not, why? For what? That’s how you measure your greatness.” Wilkins agreed that their opponents made the show better.

This year, Larry Nance Jr., the son of Wilkins’ once-formidable dunk rival, competed against freshman Donovan Mitchell in the Slam Dunk Contest. Mitchell accurately recreated the 360 ​​dunk from 2000, a tribute to Carter.

Changed his life, says Vince Carter. He has no idea.