Toronto Raptors: Predicting all-time starting 5 in NBA 2K18

Small Forward: Vince Carter

The above picture from the 2000 Slam Dunk competition gives one a glance at Vince Carter’s career in Toronto.

Carter encapsulated everything that a young star was supposed to be. He could score from distance and at the rim, contributed as a facilitator and defensively, and was an athletic freak.

Toronto Raptors

Carter won the NBA Rookie of the Year Award in the 1998-99 season, averaging 18.3 points and 5.7 rebounds a game. Vince made his first of four All-Star games as a Raptor in 2000. He also made the All-NBA team twice.

The 2000-01 season was Carter’s career year. He averaged 27.6 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game as he led the Raptors to the playoffs. Carter put up a playoff career-high 50 points on nine threes in a Game 3 win over Allen Iverson‘s 76ers in the Eastern Conference semifinals (though, the Sixers eliminated Toronto in a one-point Game 7 win).

It’s not a stretch to state that Vince Carter was the best dunker of all time. Whether it was windmills, tomahawks or reverse dunks, Carter could do it all. He dunked on almost everybody too, from Alonzo Morning and Dikembe Mutombo to Yao Ming. The bigger the giant, the harder Carter made them fall.

From Carter jumping over seven-footer Frederic Weis for a dunk in the 2000 Olympics, to an alley-oop in Los Angeles that sent the Clippers’ crowd into a frenzy, it’s hard to pick Carter’s best moment. But if you watch some of his highlight compilations on YouTube, its easy to see why they called him Half Man/Half Amazing.