The following year, no luck either, a lockout blocked the entire NBA, and the All-Star Weekend was canceled. Vince might have thought of a conspiracy at that moment, but it was only postponed because it was 2000, and the All-Star Weekend was back along with its Slam Dunk Contest. Given the past years, the NBA did not want to relive such a media carnage, so they doubled down by bringing in talented young wolves. Vince Carter was summoned but also wanted to bring family by inviting Tracy McGrady, his cousin and teammate with the Raptors. T-Mac was initially not at all excited about this event and did not want to participate. Vince then undertook a long period of negotiation, seeing in him a very serious competitor. Finally, less than a week before the All-Star Weekend, Tracy gave in and was seduced by his cousin’s challenge. We thus find ourselves with 6 players on the starting grid of an anthology Slam Dunk Contest with an Oracle Arena filled with basketball stars, including Shaquille O’Neal, Jason Kidd, and Kevin Garnett, to name a few.

Despite the ambient enthusiasm, Vince Carter and his cousin Tracy McGrady, teammates with the Toronto Raptors, arrived at the contest without serious preparation. Their coach, Butch Carter, imposed a $500 fine for each dunk attempted in practice. So, with improvised ideas but raw talent, Vince was ready to enter legend.

A promising lineup

The contest featured six participants, each determined to dazzle :

• • Tracy McGrady (Toronto Raptors)

• • Vince Carter (Toronto Raptors)

• • Steve Francis (Houston Rockets)

• • Larry Hughes (Philadelphia 76ers)

• • Ricky Davis (Charlotte Hornets)

• • Jerry Stackhouse (Detroit Pistons)

Tracy McGrady opened the show with a magnificent reverse dunk and scored 45 points. Steve Francis, in response, delivered a high-altitude dunk that also earned him 45.

Then came Vinsanity. From his first dunk, he changed the game. Carter executed a never-before-seen reverse 360 windmill, leaving the Oracle Arena in a frenzy and Shaq, camera in hand, speechless. Result: a perfect 50 points. Later, Vince would confess that he had never done it in practice.

“If you look closely, on the second dribble, I hit the ball very hard, and at that moment, I powered up like Mario Bros.” – Vince Carter.

“When he did that 360 windmill, I was like, OK, it’s over. It’s one of those moments when you know you’re witnessing history.” – Kevin Garnett.

Behind that, Jerry Stackhouse, Larry Hughes, and Ricky Davis tried to shine, but their scores were pitiful. 30 for Hughes, 41 for Stackhouse, and 40 for Davis. They knew they were already out of the competition.

Air Canada performed a huge reverse dunk from behind the basket for his second dunk and came close to perfection with 49 points. Then his cousin nailed a two-handed windmill to also score 49 points. The two Toronto teammates did not seem to want to leave a piece of the pie to their opponents.

To finish this first round, Francis delivered a magnificent hang-time dunk to share the spotlight with Vinsanity, also scoring 50 points.

The second round began, and I hope you didn’t overindulge at the snack stand during the break because The Big Sleep delivered a 360 pump from hell that would turn your stomach.

Steve Francis, feeling the wind change, attempted the alley-oop and missed, but he still qualified thanks to his 50 points scored just before.

Carter had to and wanted to prove that he was the best since his youth. He went for a titanic rider dunk on a pass from his cousin T-Mac.

Round 1 :

	Dunk 1	Dunk 2
Larry Hughes (Phi)	30	30
Tracy McGrady (Tor)	45	49
Steve Francis (Hou)	45	50
Vince Carter (Tor)	50	49
Jerry Stackhouse (Det)	41	36
Ricky Davis (Cha)	40	32

The dunk of the century

We now have our 3 finalists: Vince Carter, T-Mac, and Steve Francis. The finals began with a two-handed windmill from Francis, not bad.

T-Mac, annoyed, threw a big, angry tomahawk.

Vince Carter, on a mission, started with a legendary dunk: the elbow dunk, where he hung his entire arm in the rim. The room was in shock. Jason Kidd, Kevin Garnett, and Shaquille O’Neal couldn’t believe their eyes.

“When he put his arm through the rim, I didn’t even understand what he had just done. Vince redefined what a dunk could be.” – Jason Kidd.

 

Finalist : 

Carter	McGrady	Francis
100	99	95

With a perfect score, Vince almost assured his victory. Steve Francis tried to stay in the race with a reverse pump, but McGrady stumbled on his last dunk and was eliminated.

Vinsanity knew he had to score at least 42 points to claim the title of best dunker. He secured the victory by performing a two-handed distance dunk, sealing his triumph with 98 points in the final.

“I knew I was good that night, but what Vince did was on another level. All you could do was applaud.” – Steve Francis.

 

Final Score :

Carter	Francis	McGrady
98	91	77

An indelible legacy

This Slam Dunk Contest marked the advent of Vinsanity. Carter joined the ranks of the greatest dunkers in history, alongside Jordan, Wilkins, and Dr. J. But his year 2000 was not limited to this contest. A few months later, during the Sydney Olympics, he performed the “Dunk of Death,” posterizing Frenchman Frédéric Weis, 2.17 meters tall, a moment engraved in basketball history. Since that day, our friend Fred has been seeing a therapist daily.

“Vince Carter deserves to go down in history. Unfortunately for me, I’m in the video.” – Frédéric Weis.