Recently retired Atlanta Hawks guard Vince Carter took a trip down memory lane on Monday and reminisced about his iconic 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest performance.
Speaking to TNT's Ernie Johnson in a video call, the 43-year-old athletic marvel revealed that he came into the contest with a different set of dunks in mind.
Vinsanity cited that he was going to do a one-step, 180-degree dunk under the basket (which sounds hella impressive by the way) but decided to go on a different route to increase his chances of winning.
“It was ‘ooh-ahh' for a lot of people but it didn't feel right. It didn't have the ‘wowing' factor. That's not what I was looking for. I just didn't have that feel so I just scrapped that dunk,” the NBA icon revealed.
“The dunks that I originally had planned, I was like this was not going to win. So I scrapped it right there on the spot. I'm just trying to pull things that I've done from times past that I felt would win or present the wow factor.”
"The dunks that I originally had planned, not gonna win… so I scrapped it right there on the spot."@mrvincecarter15 on his mindset going into his legendary performance in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. #NBATogether pic.twitter.com/AFbfoUYi61
— NBA (@NBA) July 7, 2020
Vince Carter has already admitted in earlier interviews that he did pretty much ad-libbed his entire performance during that unforgettable night in Oakland. Still, it's pretty remarkable to hear what was going through his mind throughout that creative and graceful aerial display.
His fellow finalists — Houston Rockets guard Steve Francis and his then Toronto Raptors teammate Tracy McGrady — all pulled off amazing feats, but there's no doubt the eyes of the NBA world were on Carter that evening.
Carter opened the night with a ridiculous 360-degree windmill jam followed by a between-the-legs finish off a feed from T-Mac. Perhaps his most iconic one was the honey dip dunk where he put his entire right arm on the rim.
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