The sudden suspension of the NBA season potentially brings an end to Vince Carter's career and with it, the end of a unique lineage that spans the entirety of NBA history.
Carter's heartfelt press conference following the game with the Knicks doesn't definitively conclude Carter's career, but he appears to be at peace with the fact that this could be it.
If this was the last time that he plays, the NBA loses the last link on an incredible lineage. Vince Carter is the last link in the Six Degrees of Separation in NBA history. Actually five degrees. Six players. All of NBA history.
At 42 years of age, Carter was playing in his 22nd season, an NBA record. He began his career as “Half-Man, Half-Amazing”, an ultra-athletic dunker and phenom. Present day Vince is a savvy veteran, a beloved teammate, and an ambassador for the game. He is the last active player in the NBA to have played in the ‘90s, and he is the first NBA player to play in four different decades.
Carter began his career with the Toronto Raptors in 1998, and in the 2001-02 season he was teammates with Hakeem Olajuwon.
Hakeem “The Dream” Olajuwon played only one season in Toronto, after an illustrious career with the Houston Rockets. Olajuwon was the first foreign-born player to be drafted with the first overall pick in the NBA Draft, notably ahead of Michael Jordan. Two-time NBA Champion, two-time NBA Finals MVP, 1994 MVP, 12x All-Star, 6x All-NBA First Team, 2x Defensive Player of the Year. One of the best of all time.
Vince Carter - Hakeem Olajuwon. 1984 to 2020. Two players, one connection.
In the early years of Olajuwon’s time with the Rockets, he played with many other talented big men such as Ralph Sampson and Cedric Maxwell. Nicknamed “Cornbread”, Maxwell was a key piece of the Boston Celtics of the early-80s, winning two NBA Championships and one NBA Finals MVP.
Vince Carter - Hakeem Olajuwon - Cedric Maxwell. 1977 to 2020. Three players, two connections. Half of NBA history.
Despite being traded to the Los Angeles Clippers for Bill Walton, Cedric Maxwell represented the first piece of the Celtics revival. His entrance into the NBA in 1977 overlapped the tail end of another Celtics NBA Finals MVP, John Havlicek. Havlicek, along with Dave Cowens and Jo Jo White, represented the Celtics success of the ‘70s. Eight-time NBA Champion, NBA Finals MVP, 13x All-Star, 4x All-NBA First Team.
Vince Carter - Hakeem Olajuwon - Cedric Maxwell - John Havlicek. 1962 to 2020. Four players, three connections.
Havlicek entered the NBA in an ideal situation. The Boston Celtics of the 1960s were the most dominant sports franchise of that decade, and perhaps all time. Havlicek matured and took on a more prominent role as their core players were aging, such as Frank Ramsey. Ramsey was a key role player for the early part of the Celtics dynasty. Winning seven NBA Championships with the Celtics from 1957 - 1964.
Vince Carter - Hakeem Olajuwon - Cedric Maxwell - John Havlicek - Frank Ramsey. 1954 to 2020. Five players, four connections.
When Frank Ramsey joined the Boston Celtics in 1954, some of the eventual pieces of the dynasty were already there, Bob Cousy and Bill Sharman, but the most veteran member of the team was a journeyman who had played for the Syracuse Nationals, Baltimore Bullets, and Fort Wayne Pistons, Fred Scolari. Beginning his career with the Washington Capitols, Scolari was an unusual athlete, but oddly appropriate for those early years of the NBA. He was blind in one eye, deaf in one ear, and was nicknamed “Fat Freddie”. He shot the ball from his hip. He once led the BAA in free-throw percentage and was two-time All-BAA Second Team. Playing eight seasons, he was one of the last two players to retire who had played in the very first BAA season.
Vince Carter - Hakeem Olajuwon - Cedric Maxwell - John Havlicek - Frank Ramsey - Fred Scolari. 1946 to 2020. Six players, five connections. All of NBA history.
I think this is the perfect representation of NBA history. It includes multiple MVPs and NBA Champions, and well respected role players. Scolari is the strange and unusual player of the ‘50s. Ramsey is the sure and steady role player of the ‘60s. Havlicek was one of the best of the uncertain and evolving ‘70s. Maxwell was almost a casualty of the birth of the star driven ‘80s. Olajuwon part of the explosion of popularity in the ‘90s. Carter speaks to the past two eras of the NBA. The uncertain, tumultuous late-’90s, early-’00s, and this new era of superteams and player empowerment.
As Carter mentioned in the post-game press conference, his career began during the strike-shortened 1999 season, and it could end under even more unusual circumstances. Hopefully the NBA season is able to resume when it is safe and appropriate to do so. It would be inspiring if Vince Carter is able to participate and receive the sendoff he deserves. If not, that beautiful three point bomb and the reaction it received from players in the game and fans on social media seems fitting for the player who is Half Man-Half Amazing.
Caveats [Curse Word Warning]:
- I recognize that this is technically only Five Degrees of Separation. So there are paths that are Six Connections with Seven Players, but why half-ass it. Go for broke, don’t settle. Mamba mentality.
- There are simpler ways to trace NBA History by using opponents rather than strictly teammates, but that’s too easy and no fun. And by fun I mean fun for me is hunting through Basketball Reference with twelve tabs open and two notepads.
There is one gap in this timeline. A single season not represented in this illustrious legacy. Frank Ramsey missed the 1955-56 season because of military service. And if you think that ruins this entire thought experiment, then you can try and find another path, otherwise shut up and fuck off back to r/freefolk.
- There is a lineage that has the best chance of true Six Degrees of NBA History longevity*, six connections with seven players. Connie Simmons - Jack Twyman - Oscar Robertson - Kareem Abdul-Jabbar - A.C. Green - Dirk Nowitzki - (probably) Luca Doncic.
*With apologies to Trae Young, Cam Reddish, De’Andre Hunter, and the rest of the Atlanta Hawks.
- There is a lineage that traces NBA history back to 1949, when the National Basketball Association was formed from the BAA and NBL. Dolph Schayes - Connie Dierking - Zaid-Abdul Aziz - Moses Malone - Kevin Willis - Vince Carter.** **I know this because I thought 1949 was the beginning of NBA history since that's the year that the National Basketball Association formed, but no, like the Oklahoma City Thunder with the Seattle Supersonics, history is more than a name. I went to all the trouble of tracing back to 1949 and making this graphic, so here it is:
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