The epitome of longevity in the NBA, the 42-year-old Vince Carter is set to return for his 21st season as a professional after signing a one-year deal with the Atlanta Hawks.
Carter has suited up for seven different teams over the past two decades. The man dubbed half man-half amazing enjoyed superstar success during the early portions of his career but has been relegated to a bench role for the past six seasons as his age climbed. Now with the 2018-19 season looming, Carter believes there is a high chance that this is his last before calling it a career. Following from Sporting News’ Sean Deveney:
He knows the end of his career is getting close, and this could be his final go-round. But he was not quite ready to commit to that.
“Honestly, I mean, I say this is my last year, and honestly, I fight with it every day,” Carter said. “My friends, family, they’re all like, ‘Man, you don’t really know.’ And honestly, I don’t think I know. I think this is my last year of playing. I feel great, but sometimes you just know when it’s time.
“But if you asked me this probably last month, I was like, ‘No, man, I can give it another year after this, I know I can.’ I’m pretty much 90 something percent sure this is it… but I’m going to go through this year, and once the season is over, that’s kind of when I’ll make my decision.”
Though Vince Carter said he knows when the time will come for him to retire, that moment hasn’t come yet for the oldest player in the NBA. Carter is joined by Manu Ginobili and Dirk Nowitzki as the only current NBA players over 40 years of age.
Carter can still envision a scenario in which he returns for one more season a year from now. The veteran shooting guard could still be interested in playing a mentorship role for a team that needs limited minutes.
“Let me say, I would love to play on a team — hey, we don’t have a lot of minutes, but I can sit on the bench and we can use you as a mentor,” Carter said. “It’s easy to do. I probably could have done that anywhere. I still want to play the game. Whatever minutes are there, I want to play the game. I enjoy teaching. I’ll do that for any team.”
