Being the NBA's elder statesman isn't an easy label to carry around, but forward Vince Carter has carried it honorably, showing vestiges of Half-man, Half-amazing from time to time, despite playing limited minutes in a mentorship role with the Sacramento Kings.
Yet despite putting up a career-low 5.3 points per game with this team, Carter is planning to return for the 2018-19 season, which would be his 21st in the NBA.
“I plan on coming back next season,” he told Marc J. Spears of The Undefeated. “I plan on coming back one more season. I’m almost 90 percent sure that’s it after next season… You kind of go through the season, especially when the end is near and you say, ‘Hey, how do I feel?’ The summertime kind of dictates it all.”
Carter has shown glimpses of his vintage-self, with vicious dunks and in-air maneuvers that has turned back the clock, giving some of the Kings' rookies a live flashback into one of their childhood idols.
“I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, the most important time for the older guys in the league like myself and [Dallas Mavericks star] Dirk [Nowitzki] and I think all the other guys, I could say [San Antonio Spurs forward] Pau [Gasol], then could say that preparing for the season in the summer is probably the hardest thing to do when you’re approaching the last years,” said Carter. “I always said I’ll walk away from the game when I’m not willing to put the work in to be prepared for the season. I wouldn’t disrespect the game like that.
Like him, Nowitzki is also planning a return for his 21st season after undergoing season-ending ankle surgery — a clean-up procedure he had planned with the organization at an earlier point.
Carter has proven to be injury-free for the most part, though he's made limited appearances this season with a young roster needing the bulk of the minutes in a rebuilding year.
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