Vince Carter Jumped Over College Coach’s Son For an In-Game Dunk, Reveals Former Mavericks Center

Vince Carter tantalized the NBA with his explosive high-flying dunks. However, he first made his name known during his three seasons at North Carolina. Carter left fans in awe with his antics in the air. Former UNC teammate, Brendan Haywood wasn’t any exception. In one of their first practices together, Carter performed a dunk that made him realize that there’s something special in the guard.

Haywood made a guest appearance on the Run Your Race Podcast. In his conversation with former Tarheel, Theo Pinson, the two discussed their separate experiences at UNC. As a result, Haywood enlightened Pinson by sharing the moment Carter proved that he was one of the greatest athletes ever. He said,

“Vince would do something once a day. That first scrimmage is was straight the starters versus the backups. Ball somehow gets swung to Vince and somebody over-commits to the jump shot. It’s a problem already. I’m at the top of the key, I can’t get there. He’s going down the baseline, it’s actually coach Williams’ son, Scott Williams. Scott tried to take a charge. Scott was a step outside the paint. Vince flew over his head like the Jumpman sign and dunked it. I was like, ‘Oh, this is different.'”

At the time of Haywood’s story, Carter hadn’t nearly grown into his body. However, his raw athletic power simply oozed out at any given moment. Haywood recalls Carter clearing his teammate and emulating the iconic Air Jordan ‘Jumpman’ logo en route to throwing down the emphatic dunk.

Throughout Carter’s NBA career, he captured his fair share of poster dunks. However, his tremendous dunk in college wasn’t the only time the Hall-of-Fame guard flew over someone for a dunk.

Carter shocked the world in 2000

Team USA allowed Carter to represent his nation in the 2000 Syndey Olympics. Carter strived to win a gold medal for his country but in the process, he captured one of the most iconic plays in the history of basketball.

In Team USA’s matchup against France, the Americans were taking care of business as planned. Midway through the second half, Carter stole a pass in the middle of a potential France fastbreak. He quickly turned the tides. As he gathered his momentum, only one player stood in his way, big man Freder Weis. But not for long.

Carter completely cleared the French big man. As a result, the dunk earned the label of ‘The Dunk of Death.’ This dunk serves as one of the many brilliant jams, which solidify Carter as one of the greatest dunkers in NBA history.