Vince Carter will play his 21st NBA season with the Hawks next to the recently drafted fifth overall rookie—Trae Young—who wasn’t even born when “Vinsanity” was already in the league.
This season, Carter will become one of the three players still active that played in the 90’s, along with two other living NBA legends, Dirk Nowitzki and Jason Terry. The 41-year-old player was drafted on June 24, 1998, by the Warriors (and then traded to Raptors), months before the first two picks of Atlanta Hawks in this year’s draft—Trae Young and Kevin Huerter—were born. This won’t be the first time there is such a disparity of ages between the former Raptors sensation and his teammates. Last year, when he played for the Kings, he was older than Sacramento’s former rookies Harry Giles and De’Aaron Fox combined.
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The reason why we can still see Carter playing in the league is because he has learned to adapt his game style to the extent of his physical condition. Like any other player that has played at this high age, he understands that his role inside the court needs to be constantly changing, developing new skills. He is no longer the Air Canada that used to fly across the court, throwing down insane dunks. Now, he is a player who is aware of what he can and can’t do in order to help his team.
Carter will definitely be a valuable asset for the Hawks this year. A team which is currently in a rebuilding process full of a promising group of young players led by Trae Young. Before the veteran arrived in Atlanta, we all thought that Jeremy Lin and his eight seasons in the league were going to be the source of experience for this youthful squad. Instead, an eight-time NBA All-Stars, All-NBA second team and 1999 rookie of the year seems more suitable for this role.
This won’t be a team where the future hall of famer will get the championship that he misses. However, this is a good chance for him to take the nineteen-year-old rookie under his wing and help him to develop the necessary skills for the NBA.
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