Vince Carter and the Dunk Heard ’Round the World

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Happy Friday, Grizz Nation!

Running short on time, but y’all didn’t really think I was going to let this whole Olympics pass without a mention of one of the single greatest basketball plays of all time, did you? Of course not!

Vince Carter

The world is a much different place now than it was back in 2000, when Vince Carter seemed to defy the laws of gravity and launched himself over Frédéric Weis, the towering 7’2″ center for France. But even after all these years, nothing else has ever come close to this moment in basketball history.

 

No matter how many times I see this, it never, ever gets old.

 

 

ESPN did an excellent feature article last year on the 15th anniversary of what the French media christened “Le dunk de la mort”, literally “The dunk of death.” So excellent that I’m not even going to try and top it. You can find it here, and I highly recommend checking it out. There’s a fantastic commentary about the moment and the events surrounding it, including some remarks from new University of Memphis men’s basketball coach Tubby Smith, who was an assistant coach for that 2000 USA Olympic team.

 

There is also a short (I mean short) documentary I came across that details this moment in Olympic basketball history, which I also highly recommend.

 

 

Aimee Stiegemeyer
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