NBA legend Vince Carter officially retires after record 22 NBA seasons

NBA legend Vince Carter has anunced his retirement after playing for a record-breaking 22 years in league. Throughout season, Carter received standing ovations from fans throughout country, bidding farewell to 43-year-old guard. As Carter was playing for Atlanta Hawks, his last NBA season came to an abrupt end after league anunced ir NBA restart plan where only top 22 teams would travel to Orlando to compete for title. 

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Vince Carter retires: Carter officially ends his 22-year NBA career

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Carter recently appeared on Ringer's Winging It podcast, where he anunced that he was 'officially done playing basketball professionally'. guard played his final season with Hawks, who finished ir 2019-20 season with a 20-47 win-loss record. Carter's last shot was a three-pointer during  Hawks 136-131 overtime loss to New York Knicks on March 11, same day NBA suspended play due to COVID-19 pandemic. In final year of his career, Carter averd a career-low 5 points per game, while being a mentor to young players on team. After league anunced ir plan for NBA restart, fans had taken to Twitter to complain about how Carter's career ended and wanted to give him a proper farewell. 

Vince Carter's final NBA game

How did Vince Carter's NBA career start?

Though he was drafted by Golden State Warriors in 1998 as fifth overall round one pick, he was traded to Toronto Raptors, where he played for six years before moving on New Jersey Nets. Carter won NBA Rookie of Year award, was an NBA All-Star for six seasons while with Raptors, where he averd 23.4 points, 5.2 rebounds and 3.9 assists per game. While with Nets, Carter averd 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists per game. While Carter never won an NBA championship, he helped Raptors and Nets reach playoffs three times. After his time with Nets, Carter played for Orlando Magic. After that, Carter played with  Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings before signing with Hawks in 2018. 

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NBA world reacts to Vince Carter's retirement

Vince Carter's achievements over years

Carter is ranked 19th on NBA's all-time scoring list with 25,728 points, and third on all-time list with 1541 regular-season games played. He is only player in NBA to have played for 22 season, which spanned over period of four decades. One of Carter's iconic career moments was his victory during 2000 NBA Slam Dunk Contest, where he dunked over Frederic Weis during 2000 Supper Olympics in Sydney. While Carter has NBA title to his name, he was a part of Team USA's 2000 gold-medal squad. His gameplay resulted in term 'Vinsanity' being invented, which describes his style of play and his highlight-reel dunks. Carter averd 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists per game during his career. 

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(Im source: @atlhawks official Instagram)