Vince Carter: Biography from Answers.com Mobile

Vince Carter

basketball player; olympic athlete

Personal Information

Born Vincent Lamar Carter, on January 26, 1977, in Daytona Beach, FL; son of Michelle Robinson (a teacher).
Education: Attended the University of North Carolina.
Memberships: Established the Embassy of Hope Foundation, 1998; named a "Goodwill Ambassador" by Big Brothers/Big Sisters of America, 1998.

Career

Starred in the band and on the basketball court at Mainland High School, 1991-95; attended the University of North Carolina, 1995-98; picked fifth overall in the NBA draft and traded to the Toronto Raptors, 1998-; member of USA Basketball's Sydney Olympics team, 2000.

Life's Work

As one of the NBA's brightest young stars, Vince Carter has electrified the league. In only his second professional season, he led the Toronto Raptors to their first-ever playoff appearance. With his amazing dunks and stellar scoring touch, Carter is often mentioned as the heir apparent to Michael Jordan as the NBA's premier player.

Vincent Lamar Carter was born on January 26, 1977 in Daytona Beach, Florida. Although he excelled at basketball from an early age, his mother Michelle Robinson and his stepfather Harry made sure that he grew up as more than just an athlete. By the time he reached the seventh grade, Carter stood 5'8" and could already dunk a basketball, but he also played the baritone and the alto and tenor saxophone. He also wrote songs for the marching band and penned Mainland High School's homecoming song. Carter even attended band camp, a fact that he proudly passed along to Sports Illustrated's Jon L. Wertheim: "Guys hear that and make fun of me, but trying different things and doing what I like is more important than being popular." He also ran track and played volleyball. After leading his school as a drum major, for which he was also offered a college scholarship to Bethune-Cookman College, Carter led Mainland to the 1994-95 Florida Class 6A championship. Carter left Mainland High School as one of the most highly recruited high school basketball players in the country. He accepted a scholarship to attend the University of North Carolina. Carter was not one of those rare talents who uses college as a stepping stone to the NBA, however. Because both of his parents were educators, he took his studies very seriously. Carter's mother forced him to sign a contract stating that if he were to leave college early in pursuit of NBA glory, he would go back to school and graduate.

At the University of North Carolina, Carter was part of a star-studded cast which included Antawn Jamison, the man who would later be drafted one spot before him in the NBA draft. As many high school basketball phenoms have discovered at North Carolina, freshmen players must earn their way onto the starting rotation. Carter finished his freshman season with only a 7.5 points per game average. During his sophomore year, he doubled both his production and his playing time. Carter averaged 13 points per game, and led North Carolina to the Final Four before losing to the eventual national champions--Arizona. In his third year at North Carolina, he again led his team to the Final Four and solidified his reputation as a complete player--an athlete who could also play defense, rebound, and hit key shots. After his third year at North Carolina, there was little doubt that Carter would leave school to pursue the riches of the NBA. He was named a second team All-American by the Associated Press, and was a first team All-ACC selection. Carter declared himself eligible for the NBA, but not before being reminded by his mother that he must complete his education. He returned to the university during the summer months, and continued his education.

Joined the Toronto Raptors

In June of 1998, the Golden State Warriors selected Carter with the fifth pick of the NBA draft and then traded him to the Toronto Raptors for Antawn Jamison, his former North Carolina teammate. Carter immediately energized the woeful Raptors franchise, and led the team to challenge for its first playoff berth. By appearing nightly on ESPN and other sports programs, he began to attract an increasing number of Canadians to professional basketball. Sports stores sold out of Carter's number 15 jersey almost immediately, and his rookie card was pedaled for as much as ten dollars. Carter told Michael Farber of Sports Illustrated that he was surprised by his impact on the city and the league: "I didn't plan for it to be this way. My goal was to fit in, gradually work my way to being an impact player. My whole scheme fell through from Day One. . ." Carter ended the strike-shortened 1998-99 season by winning the NBA's Schick Rookie of the Year Award, and by becoming a unanimous selection to the league's All-Rookie team. During his rookie season in the NBA, Carter led the Raptors in blocked shots, field-goal percentage, and scoring.

The Next Michael Jordan

Carter began his second year as the heir apparent to retired NBA great Michael Jordan. He did little to quiet the speculation that he was ready assume the mantle of NBA demi-god. Carter's mother told Mike Wise of The New York Times that her son was accustomed to the being mentioned in the same breath as Michael Jordan: "the Michael Jordan comparison is something he's been dealing with since high school. On one hand, it's very flattering. You can't overlook the similarities. By the same token, it gets a little old, too. Vince gets tired of hearing it." Carter won the slam dunk contest during the All-Star game weekend, and the NBA seemed to officially designate him as league savior. His good looks and squeaky-clean reputation, coupled with the amazing moves and eye-popping dunks, put the league's hype machine into high gear. The evidence of Carter's popularity and importance to the NBA came one day after he won the slam dunk contest. NBC shifted the Toronto Raptors game into the national spotlight, and moved the originally scheduled New York Knicks game out of the main programming slot. Carter was featured in a pre-game introductory piece, interviewed at halftime, and again after the game. During the broadcast, his name was mentioned 165 times and his face was the subject of 105 close-ups. Carter also scored a Jordanesque 51 points during the game.

Playoff Disappointment

Despite his stellar season, Carter received some bad news just before his heroic All-Star weekend. He was omitted from the U.S. Olympic team when Ray Allen was chosen for the final roster spot. After all the adulation, the Olympic rebuff changed Carter's attitude slightly. He told the Associated Press about being left off the team: "It has helped me step up. I said, 'OK, you just have to show the world what you can do night in and night out.'" Although Carter was eventually added to the team after one of the original players on the roster suffered a knee injury, the supposed slight caused him to focus his energies more on winning than flashy, entertaining play. Carter led his team to the playoffs in 2000--a first for the Toronto franchise. The young Raptors faced the New York Knicks in the first round. Toronto had beaten the Knicks three times during the regular season. However, the New Yorkers quickly disposed of the Raptors in a three-game sweep. Carter, who was shadowed throughout each game by defensive wizard Latrell Sprewell, was held to 15 of 50 field goal attempts through the three games of the series. Despite this disappointing end, Carter enjoyed a tremendous season. Teammate Antonio Davis summed up Carter's responsibilities for Wise of The New York Times: "Some of the time I hear him talking and some of the things he had to do after practice or something he had to before practice, it's like wow. And you still made it to practice on time, you got your work in after practice? That's tough, trying to lift your team and sell the league at the same time. He's going to help the league by being himself. He's doing a great job of it."

Awards

Second Team AP All-American, First Team All-ACC, 1997-98; NBA Rookie of the Year, 1998-99.