was born on January 26, 1977, Daytona Beach, Florida, United States, his parents were Michelle and Vince Carter Sr. but his father later left when he was in grade two but, not long after Harry Robinson took over the father role., Carter first picked up a basketball at the age of two and since then he was obsessed with the game and idolized Julius Erving. He was amazed by Julius’s ability to jump so high and be able to soar higher than any other player on the court. Carter’s parents supported him through everything and wanted to bring out all of his different skills. For example Harry was a bandleader, and introduced Carter to the saxophone, trumpet and drums. He was a busy child but he still found the time to practice basketball and the countless hours put in began to pay off when he was 11. He was only 5 feet tall and he was able to touch the rim and only a year later he threw down his first dunk.(Vince Carter Bio) He is currently 39 and playing for the Memphis Grizzlies. He has been playing in the National Basketball Association since 1998 when he was first drafted as the fifth overall pick in round 1 by the Golden State Warriors, but that night he was traded to the Raptors and it was then that Canadian basketball was altered forever.,(Person Web), (Land of basketball) Although he has never won a NBA title he has won many awards such as 1998-99 Rookie of the Year and All-Rookie First Team, 1999-00 All-NBA Third Team, 2000-01 All-NBA …show more content…
This was a very important dunk contest because in 1998 the contest was cancelled due to lack of interest and in 1999 there was a 204-day lockout which fell around the time of the All-Star break so it did not happen again. Then in 2000 Vince Carter showed up for the dunk contest and he made everyone fall in love with the dunk contest once again. This event amazed everyone because he performed dunks that no one has ever seen before.(How) Although this event took place 16 years ago it is still looked at today as one of the best dunk contests in history and will be remembered for centuries to come. At this event he represented the Toronto Raptors and he won the contest so this publicized the Toronto Raptors franchise and helped them become more famous and recognizable. Vince Carter may not be Canadian like Nash but because he played for the Toronto Raptors from 1998-2004 and since it is the only Canadian team in the NBA it made him very well-known in Canada. He was portrayed in the media as a hero and that made every young basketball player want to grow up and be like him. According to Andrew Wiggins who was the first round pick in 2012 "They were a big influence, especially Carter. He was the Number 1 hero in Canada. Every kid's hero".(quote). Just like how the Dunk Contest continues to be recognized, Carter