He walked alone in the late autumn evening, wearing a navy blue hoodie, and his wrinkled face was half hidden in the hat. Walking in the player parking lot of FedEx Arena in Memphis, he believes that he still has the ability to turn the clock of time and fly over the basket again, even if there is only one game, only one moment.
Three hours before the game against the Spurs in December, the 6-foot-6 shooting guard with a gray beard walked into the arena. He nodded and smiled at the security guards and guides, still charming, and then walked into the grizzly bear locker room. As usual, he was the first to come.
The 18-year-old will put on his warm-up suit, pick up the ball and walk into the court. The seats on the sidelines were still empty, and he began to practice jump shots. One by one, the sound of bouncing the ball echoed over the empty arena. He pitched 25 times and hit around 75%.
Vince Carter is 38 years old, but when shooting alone on the court, he seems to be himself. He broke through against his imaginary opponent and glided into the air. He can easily score at a distance of 3 feet. His rhythm is wonderful, just like dancing on the court. The rhythm and melody are all familiar to him since he was a child.
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There are two caddies training with Carter, and they also saw the "demigod" style. He once leapt 7' 2 "in the Olympic Games, and averaged more than 2 points in 1 seasons, made eight All-Stars and was selected as the best team twice.
Carter has been in good shape recently. On November 28th last year, at the end of the first quarter of his game against the Hawks, Carter scored a 61-foot long-range shot, which is the longest hit shot of the Grizzlies at home in the past six years. On November 3th, he flew to khoris Thompson, a 76ers, and almost violently tore down the basket. Of course, he only scored these two points in that game.
Now, after 45 minutes of pre-match training, he returned to the locker room to prepare for the game against the Spurs. His locker is between Mike Conley and Jamie Green. At this point, other players have also come in.
what Carter is experiencing now is the most difficult season of his career. In the first 19 games of the Grizzlies, he didn't get a chance to play in 11 games. By December, he averaged only 4.6 points, the lowest in his career, with only .5 assists and a shooting percentage of 36.1%.
Then why did he start training two hours before the start of the game and give his teammates a glowing high five when they entered the dressing room? This may be a trivial matter, but it is an important reason to maintain Carter's career and make him want to continue playing.
"I respect basketball, so if I have a bad attitude, I will leave." Carter said, "I can still contribute. I know I can." Like Kobe, he knows when to leave, but I haven't arrived yet. Even if I teach the rookie to adapt to the life of the NBA, I feel that I can play a role. "
"It's hard to miss the ball, but I'm not going to leave yet. Not yet, in my heart, I can still jump so high that my head is far beyond the basket. The old Vince still exists. " He said.
* * * *
Carter can only play 13.7 minutes per game this season. In the first 54 games of the Grizzlies, he scored in double figures only six times. Soon someone will ask: Should he be elected to the Hall of Fame?
Carter scored a total of 23,734 points in his career, ranking 25th in the historical scoring list. Sixteen of these players were elected to the Hall of Fame, and six active players-Kobe Bryant, Nowitzki, Garnett, Pierce, Duncan and Ray Allen-are not in doubt in the future. There are also two others, O 'Neill and Iverson, who will be selected soon.
"I believe Vince is definitely a Hall of Fame star." Coach Butch Carter, who coached him in the Raptors, said, "He should have been selected just by looking at the data, not to mention his achievements are not limited to the data. He inspired a generation of young people to fall in love with basketball. "
Indeed, when you walk into the locker room of any team, you will always hear many anecdotes about Carter, and understand how his fearless impact on the basket has infected many teammates who are under 27 years old. For example, in the Warriors locker room, Carter, as a senior in North Carolina, is the existence of a mysterious legend.
"I grew up watching my father fight Vince in the Raptors. Vince taught me too much about my career." Curry, 27, said. His father Del Curry played for the Raptors from 1999 to 22.
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"Vince is always willing to spend time with me, and he never lets me win any one-on-one fights, but all I remember now is that he told me what the NBA is like, how much effort NBA players should make, how to push themselves every day, and how professional players should make time for fans. He has given me a great influence, and every game he plays has countless highlights. He is a demigod, making basketball an unmissable sport in Canada. " Curry said.
Harrison Barnes, 23, said, "Vince is one of the important reasons why I joined North Carolina. He is really versatile. I have especially liked him since I was a child. His strength and impact are what I want to learn. He can do things that most people dare not think of, and dunk in front of the big man at will. You see him in every game, and you don't know what he will do next. Now there is no such person in the league. "
Luke Wharton, who has been the acting coach of Warriors for half a season, also said, "Vince is the best dunker of our time. His athletic ability is too strong. I still remember that when he played in North Carolina, he buckled my brother (Nate Wharton, studying at Princeton University). When Vince flew empty, he was almost one and a half feet taller than my 6-foot-7-inch brother."
"After the game, my brother called me and asked me to watch Sports Center, because he knew that this dunk would definitely be in the highlights. At that time, Vince was able to be on this show every night, really every night. "
* * * *
He tied the red shoelaces of the size 16 high-heeled shoes, and the game against the Spurs will start in an hour. He sat in the dressing room and stared ahead, looking at the whole room with brown eyes. He looks at his teammates like a doctor looks at a patient. He is asking himself: Who needs to be inspired tonight? Who should listen to a joke? Who should know what the spurs' weakness is?
"As a player, I can say something that a coach can't, because I can feel the players' feelings. The coaching staff also gave me a lot of freedom to express myself, so I can do this. " He said.
Carter has been helping rookie striker jarrell Martin, who is not on the activation list in this game. But in the dressing room, Carter told the 21-year-old young man to pay attention to Duncan's comprehensiveness and imagine his feeling of confrontation with him on the court.
"Vince has been guiding me, and I am very grateful to him." Martin said, "He will take me to dinner and tell me what life in the NBA is like. My friends and I have admired him since childhood. I still remember watching the Olympic Games at home and witnessing him leap over the French center. I also wanted to be Vince since I was a child, so when he speaks, I will listen carefully. "
* * * *
He dunked for the first time in his hometown of Daytona Beach, Florida. At the age of 12, he was only in the sixth grade, and he was 5 feet 5 inches tall. He is the student patrol captain of Daytona South Primary School, and often plays basketball with his senior classmates. Students often provoke him to prove that he can dunk.
"Nobody thought I could do it, so I gradually stopped being afraid of what would happen, but I had to buckle the ball in front of them. That fearlessness has not disappeared since then. " Carter said.
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The story of Carter's dunk soon spread throughout Daytona and then throughout Florida. By the time Carter entered high school, he was the person who could stimulate the audience's curiosity the most. Before each game, scalpers could sell tickets for 1 dollars. Many students could not afford tickets, so they spent 3 dollars sitting in the school cafeteria and watching live TV.
"When Vince flew to the basket, he felt as if he was on an ascending elevator, rising to a place where no one could touch him." Coach Charles Brinckerhoff, who coached Carter in high school, said, "He always has a big smile on his face because he knows that he can do things that no one else can. It is too natural for him to be a star here. "
Carter's most brutal dunks are all in training. Point guard Joe Giddens, who was a teammate with Carter in high school, is still a good friend of Carter. Giddens also said: "He dunked the basket, and sometimes his elbow even exceeded the basket after jumping."
"God gave him this bounce, and Vince knows it, but he seems shy every time he mentions it, and I don't think he can really understand it. He trains very hard and constantly strengthens his leg strength in order to improve his bounce, but his ability to fly is really natural. "
In the summer of 2, Giddens was staying with his mother in his hometown. Carter called him from Sydney. "You want to see Sports Center." Carter said this.
"why?" Giddens asked.
"You'll see." Carter said.
Giddens watched the ESPN program, and then he saw Carter fly over the 7-foot-2 French center Frederic Weiss like a rocket. Everyone was shocked and even the French players applauded him.
"My screams may have spread all over the block." Giddens recalled, "that was really the most awesome dunk in basketball history."
Today, 16 years later, Carter has to answer the question about that dunk almost once a week, and his reply is the same. He will smile and shrug his shoulders as if he doesn't know what's going on, and then he will tell you that flying feels good.
"It was a special moment, and I have never seen it again." Carter said.
* * *
The game against the Spurs is about to start, and Carter is the only player to shake hands with the referee Ron Garriston. He saw Duncan again, and then they hugged each other like an old friend.
Carter stood on the court with other grizzly substitutes at the pre-game players' appearance ceremony. Whenever a starter's name was read, Carter would go forward and give him a high five. During the whole ceremony, Carter jumped up and down. He felt the energy of the audience and hoped to hear the inner basketball melody.
Before the jump ball, the substitutes all returned to the bench and sat down, but Carter didn't sit down. He followed starting point guard Conley on the court and whispered a few words in his ear until a referee signaled him to leave.
"I played in the league for nine years, but Vince is still my mentor." Conley said, "he observed things that most people can't detect, some small things, such as how we should face an opponent and attack well." Most players in our team have admired Vince since childhood, so now everyone respects him very much. He has the strength of a superstar, and occasionally you can see that he once had an epiphany. The abnormal talent and jumping ability are really special. "
The question is: Will the old Vince appear this night?
* * * *
On an early autumn afternoon, Carter was standing in the hall of the starks Conservatory of Music in Memphis, and 11 high school students around him were singing Duke Ellington's "If You Ain't Got That Swing". Carter stood among them and danced to the rhythm.
Carter came to participate in this after-school music activity. After the music stopped, a student told him what was bothering him. Carter told him: "Life will always encounter difficulties. When it is difficult, you can always relax yourself in music, which is what I have always done. Music is my refuge."
Carter began to learn saxophone when he was in the fifth grade. His former stepfather, Harry Robinson, was a bandleader in a high school. Robinson had a very sharp ear and could find a tune out of tune in a 2-member orchestra, and he also cultivated Carter's love for music. They used to watch high school football games together, not to watch the game, but to watch the band's performance at halftime. In the summer vacation, Carter not only attended basketball camp, but also attended the music summer camp.
In senior three, Carter became the drummer of the school marching band, and he needed to coordinate the movements of the whole band. The band didn't use loose-leaf music when performing, and everyone looked at Carter's conductor. In addition, Carter also composed music for the school's welcome songs.
"The audience likes watching the game as well as watching Vince perform. He really knows how to perform." Giddens said.
"Music is very important to my basketball career." Carter said. He once received a music scholarship from Cookman University in Besan. "I always want to find the perfect melody and rhythm on the court. I am also playing my own music during the competition."
"The similarity between music and playing basketball is that the rhythm is very important." Butch Carter said, "Many people who like listening to music can be good at finding rhythm, but few people can feel it as keenly as Vince. A great dancer can feel the music, and Vince is a great dancer on the basketball court. "
At home in Memphis, Carter set up a music studio. Last autumn and winter, whenever he sat on the bench for 48 minutes, he would immerse himself in the music room, create new melodies and forget the real troubles.
"That music room is a channel for Vince to release himself." Giddens said, "In music, Vince's performance is as natural as on the court. Without music, he wouldn't be that player."
* * *
Carter sat on the bench for eight minutes before the first game against the Spurs. With 3 minutes and 55 seconds left, the game was suspended and the Grizzlies led 15-1. Carter went straight to Mark Gasol and told him that he needed more stops in the penalty area, more balls and more Duncan. "The score is right there for you to get."
At this time, Carter's job is to be a player and coach. After the game resumed, Gasol really ran to the penalty area, caught the ball behind Duncan, turned around and hit a jumper. Grizzlies coach Dave Jorge then smiled at Carter and said, "You're about to take my job."
Carter didn't get a chance to play in the first half.
* * * *
Butch Carter still remembers that dunk. At that moment, he knew that Carter would change the history of Canadian basketball.
"It was the first time we played at the Canadian Air Center in Toronto," he said. "Vince rushed to the basket after picking and rolling with the point guard, and the point guard threw the ball high. Vince's dunk directly scared Bryant Reeves. After that, he may have become a different person."
In Carter's rookie season, whenever the Raptors arrived near the free-throw line, fans who used to watch ice hockey began to make noise because they didn't know what would happen next. They only know Carter's flight path. During this year, the whole city began to be keen on playing basketball, and Carter also set a goal for himself.