Vince Carter on Olympic dunk: 'Didn't know I jumped over' 7-foot-2 Weis
Short of anything the 1992 Dream Team produced, there may not be a more iconic international basketball highlight than Vince Carter dunking over 7-foot-2 France center Frederic Weis at the 2000 Olympics.
The tournament came just months after Carter won the basketball universe over with his otherworldly performance at the 2000 Slam Dunk contest, and a dunk of that magnitude served to further solidify Vinsanity as a must-see superstar.
But Carter wasn't worried about highlight reels or popularity when he crammed on the Frenchman. He was just worried about completing the dunk.
Carter joined ESPN's Mike & Mike on Friday to reflect on his career-defining highlight:
For me, everybody saw the dunk and saw me jump over the guy. But in my mind, in reality, I didn't know it. I didn't know I jumped over him.
We're going throughout the game - Tim Hardaway, I just spoke to him this summer - why didn't you guys ever tell me, throughout the course of the game? I guess everybody was in awe.
In my mind, once I got the steal, take one, two dribbles, I jump. And I'm thinking "I jumped too far, and I'm gonna get hung, and I'm gonna make a Sprite commercial."
...
So Kevin Garnett is celebrating a dunk that I just jumped over a man, but I'm celebrating a dunk that I just made that I didn't think I was going to make.
As a refresher, here's the dunk in question. Carter is quite demonstrative with his celebration, and Garnett is, well, Garnett. Thinking of Carter celebrating like this not realizing he had just made the poster to end all posters is pretty funny:
The U.S. would go on to win the gold medal, and the Weis dunk is just one of many ridiculous dunks fans remember Carter for. That's not to say he's done building his career highlight reel - Half Man, Half Amazing still has two years on his contract, and even at age 38, he can still throw down.
A foot injury conspired to limit the eight-time All-Star to 66 games for the Memphis Grizzlies in 2014-15 on his way to posting the worst numbers of his career. In 16.5 minutes, Carter averaged 5.8 points, two rebounds, and 1.2 assists, while shooting a woeful 33.3 percent from the floor and 29.7 percent from outside.
Poor production can be forgiven amid injuries, but Carter could see his role decrease even further in 2015-16, as Memphis bolstered its wing rotation this summer.
Weis, meanwhile, struggled with mental health issues after his career came to a close, and he continues to battle depression to this day.