Vince Carter on Wednesday night eclipsed a cool milestone, and he did so in fitting fashion.
Carter dunked a ball at the buzzer in the Toronto Raptors’ 124-108 win over the Atlanta Hawks to give him 14 points for the game and 25,001 for his career.
Carter made a name for himself with his incredible aerial displays, so the dunk was the best way for him to get to that mark.
Now 41, Carter has remained a valuable player by reshaping his game and role 20 years after making his NBA debut. He’s been willing to come off the bench and mentor youngsters, which has allowed him to extend his career and reach such milestones.
Carter is 26th all time in career points and may be able to pass a few players in front of him this season, like Jerry West, Rick Barry and Reggie Miller.
Carter began the night 13 points shy of the mark. The Hawks were pulling for Carter, in his 21st season, to reach the milestone against his former Toronto team. He sank a 3-pointer with less than two minutes remaining and, clearly aiming for the milestone, missed two more 3s before being fouled with 33.9 seconds.
Playing in his 1,423rd regular-season game, Vince Carter became the 22nd player in NBA history to score 25,000 career points.
"It was a great moment for me," said Carter, who at 41 is playing in his 21st season. "Being around this long, you just want to play and accomplish as many things as you can. But 25K is 25K."
"Everyone in the NBA, we're all tipping our hats to him because 25,000 is a lot of points," Toronto point guard Kyle Lowry said. "He's such a great guy, great individual, great teammate, great person. He's earned it, deserved it. I think everyone's really happy for him. He earned it tonight, and to get it on a two-handed dunk like that is pretty cool."
