The Sacramento Kings made a wonderful move on Thursday night when they agreed to a one-year contract with Vince Carter. The deal is for $8 million, according to ESPN’s Adrian Wojnarowski, which is a nice chunk of change for Carter and gives the young Kings one heck of a veteran presence in the locker room.
Free agent Vince Carter has agreed to a one-year, $8M deal with Sacramento, agents Kurt Schoeppler and Jim Tanner tell ESPN.
— Adrian Wojnarowski (@wojespn) July 7, 2017
Actually, calling Carter a “veteran presence” within the organization sells short the fact that he is 40. While that’s not old in the grand scheme of things, in the NBA, that’s a generational difference. Plenty of people decided to try and illustrate this on Twitter, and it was fantastic.
Vince Carter was drafted 6 months and 4 days after De'Aaron Fox was born.
— Yaya Dubin (@JADubin5) July 7, 2017
Kings rookie Harry Giles was two months old when Vince Carter was drafted.
— Akis (@Aykis16) July 7, 2017
Justin Jackson and Vince Carter become the newest Tar Heel teammates in the NBA, playing for the @SacramentoKings in 2017-18 pic.twitter.com/dAv5BPR48p
— Taylor Sharp (@tsharp94) July 7, 2017
At 40, Vince Carter's about double the age of 5 Kings teammates. Teach ‘em youngins!
Fox: 19
Giles: 19
Papagiannis: 20
Malachi: 21
Skal: 21— Tas Melas (@TasMelas) July 7, 2017
Sacramento's young core doesn't remember an NBA without Vince Carter.
— Greg (@gwiss) July 7, 2017
Some, like Dwyane Wade, were just excited that they are going to get the opportunity to watch Carter continue his Hall of Fame career for another year…
Yes sir Vince Carter!!!4️⃣0️⃣💰💰💰💰💰💰💰💰#TheHOFwillhavetowait
— DWade (@DwyaneWade) July 7, 2017
— Professor OAK 🇵🇸 (@o_a_khan) July 7, 2017
…while others thought it was nuts that an NBA player in his 40s is signing such a lucrative deal, especially compared to what NFL players make.
Every NFL player after seeing 41-year-old Vince Carter signed for $8M… pic.twitter.com/c66TANQFSl
— TPS (@TotalProSports) July 7, 2017
40 year old Vince Carter will get paid $8M this season while Odell Beckham Jr. will play for $1.8M.
— Ari Meirov (@MySportsUpdate) July 7, 2017
Maybe the most underrated part of this is that it reunites Carter with Kings head coach David Joerger. The two crossed paths for a few years when Joerger was the head coach of the Grizzlies, and as it turns out, he really loved sharing a locker room with Carter.
https://twitter.com/FlyerGrizBlog/status/883120593679396868
Here's what Dave Joerger had to say about Vince Carter shortly after he signed in Memphis pic.twitter.com/emOEgqZSdX
— Tony Xypteras (@TonyXypteras) July 7, 2017
But the best thing is that Carter is just going to stick around for another year. He’s been so great for so long, and while he has absolutely lost a step or two, he’s managed to reinvent himself as a savvy veteran who can occasionally contribute on the floor but does his best work as a mentor of young players.
Carter turns 41 on Jan. 26, 2018. The oldest person to ever play in an NBA game was Nat Hickey in 1948, who took the floor at 45 years and 363 days. The point I am trying to make is do not stop playing, Vince Carter.
