Fresh off a season in which he became the oldest person in NBA history to do things like score 20 points and play 45 minutes in a game, Vince Carter says he'll call it a career after just one more year in the league.
Appearing on ESPN's "The Jump" on Wednesday, the 42-year-old veteran announced that he is, in fact, retiring "soon."
"I got one more in me," Carter told co-host Stephen Jackson. "One more run in me."
Jackson's co-host, Rachel Nichols, then interrupted Carter by noting the eight-time All-Star has told her twice before he would be calling it quits, only to keep playing. But Carter doubled down on his word, pointing to the 2019-20 campaign as his 22nd and final year in the NBA.
"I'm at one," he said. "Last one. One more."
Carter hasn't exactly succumbed to Father Time on the court, hitting almost 42 percent of field-goal tries and averaging 7.4 points as a role player with the Atlanta Hawks in 2018-19. But as Complex recently noted, he'll become the first player in NBA history to play in four different decades should he actually lace up for one more season.
Originally the fifth overall pick of the 1998 NBA Draft, Carter spent the first six-plus seasons of his career with the Toronto Raptors, winning 1999 Rookie of the Year, garnering two All-NBA honors and finishing as Toronto's top all-time single-season and career points-per-game scorer. One of just 10 all-time players to average at least 20 points, four rebounds and three assists per game for 10 straight seasons, he spent almost five full seasons with the New Jersey Nets starting in 2004-05, also setting the franchise record for single-season points there. Since then, Carter has played for six different teams, including the Hawks, Sacramento Kings and Memphis Grizzlies over the last half-decade.
