Vince Carter turned 42 at the end of January, but that doesn’t mean he’s ready to retire from the NBA just yet.
“I think I could stretch it out one more,” Carter said on ESPN’s Pardon the Interruption Thursday.
“At the end of the year, I usually assess from top to bottom to see how I’m feeling. And obviously opportunity, when the phone rings and teams show interest that’s a good thing. So, me personally I think I can give it another year so why not, we’ll see what happens.”
The Golden State Warriors made Carter the fifth-overall pick in the 1998 NBA draft, but he was swapped for Antawn Jamison (selected fourth-overall) from the Toronto Raptors immediately after. Since then, he’s been a regular in the NBA for the last 20 seasons.
Now on his eighth team, the Atlanta Hawks, Carter has routinely been setting old-man records this season, most recently breaking his own record as the oldest player to score over 20 points in a game.
Carter was asked if there was a secret to his longevity, or if there was anything special he had to eat or drink to stay game ready.
“For me personally I feel like it’s a laundry list of things, but my willingness to do whatever it takes is getting me by,” Carter said. “I know I have to eat right, I have to train a little more than the average guy… Whatever it takes to survive and play at this level, I’m willing to do.”
Despite playing as long as he has, Carter has never tasted the ultimate glory of winning an NBA title. With his Hawks 9.5 games out of a playoff spot, he’s set to miss out on that chance again this season.
When asked if he’s made peace with that fact, Carter said that he’d rather play than ride the bench on a championship team.
“I want to play. I get out there, I can still play the game and I can still compete,” he said. “I think just sitting on the end of the bench just to win a ring, I didn’t come up that way and it’s just something I can’t do.
“Yes every player wants to win a championship, and that’s something I would love to do. But to sacrifice not playing the game to do so is just something I’m not interested in.”
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