Vince Carter signed a contract Friday with the Atlanta Hawks, returning for his 22nd — and what he has said will be final — NBA season.
Contract terms were not announced.
Even though 2019-20 will be Carter’s last season, he has a chance to mark a couple of firsts.
When he plays in his first game of the new season, he will become the first NBA player to play in 22 seasons, surpassing Dirk Nowitzki, Kevin Garnett, Robert Parish and Kevin Willis. When he plays in the first game in the 2020 calendar year, he will be the league’s first player to play in four decades.
Carter was the 1998-99 NBA Rookie of the Year with the Toronto Raptors, who selected him No. 5 overall in the 1998 NBA Draft. An eight-time All-Star, he enters his second year with the Hawks, where he’ll also be counted on to mentor a young team that includes guards Trae Young, Kevin Huerter and De’Andre Hunter, forward John Collins and rookie swingman Cam Reddish.
Of that group, Collins will be oldest when the season starts, turning 22 on Monday.
Last season in Atlanta, Carter scored 7.4 points per game in 76 contests with the Hawks while playing on a one-year, $2.4 million contract. He started nine games.
Carter, whose acrobatic dunks helped earn him the nickname Vinsanity, has averaged 17.2 points, 4.4 rebounds and 3.2 assists in his career. Aside from the Hawks and Raptors, he has played for the New Jersey Nets, Orlando Magic, Phoenix Suns, Dallas Mavericks, Memphis Grizzlies and Sacramento Kings.
He was the 2000 winner of the NBA Slam Dunk Contest and won an Olympic gold medal with Team USA later that summer.
Also on Friday, the Hawks announced the signing of guard Tahjere McCall. He most recently played on the Hawks’ Las Vegas Summer League team, starting four games and averaging 11.0 points, 7.3 rebounds, 2.8 assists and 2.5 steals in 31.0 minutes.
