Vince Carter, who’s in his 22nd NBA season, just broke a major record.
On Saturday night, in a game against the Indiana Pacers, the 42-year-old Atlanta Hawks shooting guard became the first player in league history to play in four different decades, according to the Elias Sports Bureau.
Born in Daytona Beach, Florida, Carter was a star basketball player for Mainland High School, then for the University of North Carolina. He was selected No. 5 in the 1998 NBA draft and would play for the Toronto Raptors until 2004.
In 2000 the 6-foot-6 wing player’s popularity would grow tenfold after he won the slam dunk contest that year and did that famous between-the-legs dunk, which he caught off an alley-oop.
After the Raptors, Carter played for the New Jersey Nets from 2004 to 2009, and from there he became a bit of an NBA journeyman. He played for the Orlando Magic, the Phoenix Suns, the Dallas Mavericks, the Memphis Grizzlies, and the Sacramento Kings before coming to the Hawks over the summer of 2018.
In a Jan. 2 tweet, Carter acknowledged that he was going to break the record by playing in four different decades, and his followers congratulated him.
“VC is the man. The reason I became a Raptor fan for life and the reason I love basketball so much,” someone tweeted.
“Congratulations!” wrote another follower, who then followed that up with a series of hashtags.
“TheAgelessOne#HalfManHalfAmazing#Coach#Mentor#LoveFromGrizzNation.”
Plus, with Carter playing 22 seasons in the NBA, he’s surpassed a select few who’ve played for 21 seasons, including Kevin Garnett, Robert Parish, Kevin Willis and Dirk Nowitzki.
As for Saturday’s game, the Hawks beat the Pacers 116-111, and Carter went 1-for-7 from the field and had three points.
