The 2019-20 NBA campaign is in limbo as a result of its indefinite suspension, and no one knows for sure if we will see the league return at any point this season.
That could mean the end of an iconic career.
That career is that of Vince Carter.
Vince Carter will never be mentioned among the all-time greats. He has never won a championship, he has never been the best player in the NBA at any point of his tenure and he hasn't made an All-Star appearance since 2007.
But there is no denying the impact that Carter has had since entering the league back in 1998.
Of course, Carter will forever be known for his legendary performance at the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest, when he revived a dead competition while also killing it simultaneously.
Why? Because no one had ever seen anything like Carter's performance before, and he set the bar so high that anything afterward was seen as a disappointment.
Sure, you had your Jason Richardsons, your Nate Robinsons, your Zach LaVines and your Aaron Gordons, but for every watchable dunk contest, there were several snoozers that had you desperately longing for that fateful night on Feb. 12, 2000 when Carter told the whole world “it's over.”
It sounds strange for a player's legacy to be largely attached to one otherwise meaningless event, but such is the case with Carter, who may very well have been the best dunker we have ever seen.
There was also the ferocious, inhuman slam on Frederic Weis in the 2000 Olympics. There were countless other poster dunks. There was the palpable arena buzz every time Vince Carter had the ball alone on a fast break.
In a way, it almost unfairly detracts from just how good of a player Carter was, because in his prime, he was really, really good. He could slash. He could shoot. He could handle. He could pass. I won't say much about his defense, because that won't end well, but as far as his offense was concerned? He was terrific, and he will certainly be in the Hall of Fame one day.
But you know what? In a way, it's okay that people aren't focused on Carter's actual skill, because if they were, some miserable jerk would unquestionably bring up Carter's lack of playoff success and his rampant injury issues, the latter of which makes the fact that he is still playing at age 43 even more ironic.
The sad part is that the young kids watching these days only see the old, broken-down Atlanta Hawks version of Carter. They have no memory of Vinsanity. They never experienced Air Canada.
Yes, there are plenty of exciting athletes in today's game. Gordon and Derrick Jones Jr. just put on one heck of a show at the dunk contest last month. LaVine is still throwing it down. Russell Westbrook is around.
But as impressive as those guys are, they will never be able to match what Vince Carter did for the game of basketball 20 years ago, and it's hard to imagine anyone helping NBA fans recapture that feeling.
If this is the end of Vinsanity, it was one heck of a ride.
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