42-year-old veteran Vince Carter is set to make NBA history this season after signing with the Atlanta Hawks, so he’s set for his 22nd season in the world’s leading basketball league.
Carter will become the first NBA player to compete in 22 seasons when he takes the court for the Hawks and his first appearance in a game in 2020 will also make him the first to compete in four different decades at this level. .
Among active NBA players, Carter leads with 1,481 games played. That’s fifth on the all-time list, 130 short of Robert Parish’s record and 79 behind second-place Kareem Abdul-Jabbar.
Only Los Angeles Lakers star LeBron James has more baskets or minutes played among active NBA players than 9,186 and 45,491 minutes.
He also ranks third among active players in 3-point baskets at 2,229 after the Golden State Warriors ‘Stephen Curry and the Milwaukee Bucks’ Kyle Korver.
Carter was the 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Raptors after being the fifth overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft.
He participated in eight consecutive NBA All-Star Games between 2000 and 2007.
Nicknamed ‘Air Canada’ in its early days for its high-jump acrobatic dunks, it helped the ‘Dream Team’ win the Olympic gold medal in Sydney.
Carter, who turns 43 in January, has played primarily a backup role in recent seasons, making nine starts in 76 appearances for the Hawks last season, when he averaged 7.4 points; 2.6 rebounds and 1.1 assist per game.
During his 21-season career with Atlanta, Toronto, New Jersey, Orlando, Phoenix, Dallas, Memphis and Sacramento, Carter has averaged 17.2 points; 4.4 rebounds; 3.2 assists and 1.0 steals per game.
The only other NBA players to have been in the league for 21 seasons are Parish, Kevin Garnett, Kevin Willis and Germany’s Dirk Nowitzki. AFP