Vince Carter thanks the Sacramento Kings in Hall of Fame speech
Oct 16, 2024, 8:43 AM
(Photo by Sean M. Haffey/Getty Images)
Vince Carter capped off his memorable career with the highest honor in the game of basketball over the weekend as the eight-time All-Star was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Massachusets.
Carter, who spent his 22-year career with several organizations, carved out a spot in his Hall of Fame speech to show some love to the Sacramento Kings, where he spent the 2017-18 season as a backup forward while providing a young roster with veteran leadership.
With fellow Hall of Fame member and former Sacramento Kings general manager Vlade Divac in the house, Carter started his speech by showing love to Divac and Kings owner Vivek Ranadive.
“To the Sacramento Kings, Vivek–I know Vlade is here–[former head coach] Dave Joerger, thanks for that last year, my guy. To my teammates, De’Aaron Fox, George Hill, Justin Jackson, Buddy Hield, and the rest of the guys in the family of Sacramento, thank you very much for allowing that young, but old guy to show that I still had a little bit left in the tank.”
Vince Carter’s Hall of Fame speech
Carter, the 1999 NBA Rookie of the Year, may be best known for his time with the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey Nets, but he hopped around the league in his later years, settling in Sacramento for the 2017-18 season.
In his lone year with the Kings, Carter played just under 60 games, averaging 5.4 points and 2.6 rebounds in just under 18 minutes a game–but the off-the-court impact was immeasurable as Carter took then-rookie and current franchise star, De’Aaron Fox, under his wing.
Carter would go on to play two more seasons after his stop in Sacramento. He currently holds the record for the longest NBA career with 22 total seasons played. Over that time, he accrued 25,728 points (24th all-time in NBA points history).
Along with Carter, former star guard Chauncey Billups, Lakers guard Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Bo Ryan, Charles Smith, Seimone Augustus, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin, Michele Timms, Doug Collins, Herb Simon, and the late Jerry West (his third induction into the Hall) were inducted as the class of 2024.
When is the next Sacramento Kings game?
Sacramento will conclude the preseason portion of its schedule on Thursday night when they visit the Los Angeles Clippers at their new home, the Intuit Dome.
Be sure to catch all of the action right here on Sactown Sports 1140 AM, with pregame coverage starting at 2:00 PM PDT on The Drive Guys before action tips off at 7:30 PM PDT from Inglewood.
Sacramento Kings 2024-25 Schedule
Preseason
- Thursday, October 17th – @ Los Angeles Clippers – 7 pm PDT
Regular Season
- Thursday, October 24th – vs. Minnesota Timberwolves – 7 pm PDT
- Saturday, October 26th – @ Los Angeles Lakers – 7:30 pm PDT
- Monday, October 28th – vs. Portland Trail Blazers – 7 pm PDT
- Tuesday, October 29th – @ Utah Jazz – 6 pm PDT
- Friday, November 1st – @ Atlanta Hawks – 4 pm PDT
Thank you for reading SactownSports.com. Follow us on Twitter and Google News, and subscribe to our YouTube channel.