Video: Remembering Vince Carter and his memorable “death smash”

On 26 September 2000, something unprecedented happened at the Sydney Olympics. In a basketball game against France in the preliminary group, the US national team’s Vince Carter made an unprecedented dunk that was later described by the media as the “death dunk”.

The United States of America, of course, came to the 2000 Olympics as the main favourites for the basketball tournament. This is a given since they sent their “Dream Team” to the 1992 Olympics, which was composed entirely of NBA players.

Although the lineup for this tournament was not as stellar as it was 8 years ago. It is worth mentioning to list these players who either already are or are yet to be inducted into the NBA Hall of Fame: Vince Carter, Kevin Garnett, Ray Allen, Allan Houston, Jason Kidd, Gary Payton and Alonzo Mourning.

Group A game: USA vs. France

The USA and France faced each other in the Group A regular season matchup. This match ended with the Americans winning 106:94. However, it was in this match that something happened that has never happened in the history of Olympic basketball tournaments.

In the second half, at 69:54 for the USA, it was 23-year-old Vince Carter’s turn. After the French fumbled the ball, he got the ball, jumped over the defending pivot Fréderic Weiss with his whole body and drove it to the basket with an uncompromising dunk.

This finish was subsequently described by the media as a “death smash”. Carter himself was already one of the most effective finishers in his youth. With this basket, however, he took the dunk to the next level.

Carter has played an incredible 22 seasons in the NBA, a franchise record to date. Lebron James, for example, is now in his 21st season, so he can match that feat next season. The legendary American basketball player ended his career at the age of 42. He is also one of the best three-pointers in NBA history and has also surpassed the mythical 25,000 points.

He is also one of only six players in league history to score 24,000 points, 6,000 rebounds, 2,500 assists, 1,000 steals and 1,000 threes from the field. It is only a matter of time before he is inducted into the Hall of Fame, having left an indelible mark on NBA history.

Source: Olympic Games, NBA