The Loop
If Coronavirus just ended Vince Carter's career a few weeks early, at least he went out in style
So, uh, yeah. That happened. In what was perhaps the wildest night in the NBA since the Malice at the Palace, on Wednesday the National Basketball Association cancelled two games with fans already in the seats, saw Jazz big man Rudy Gobert test positive for Coronavirus, and suspended the rest of the season with multiple games still in play. Mark Cuban did the spit take heard round the world . . .
. . . a little Pelicans fan was seen sobbing when her team refused to come out of the locker room . . .
. . . and Vince Carter, the NBA's very own Dorian Gray, entered Hawks-Knicks with 19 seconds remaining in overtime and promptly drained what could very well be, Covid-pending, the final bucket of his storied NBA career. It was a scene, man.
The game was already out of reach for the Hawks by the time Carter entered, but his uncontested triple will still go down in the NBA annals not only because of the circumstances, but also because of the dude who hit it—a surefire Hall of Famer and fan favorite who, if anything, remains under-appreciated 22 seasons on. Seriously have you ever met anyone met anyone who doesn't like Vince Carter? Don't answer that, we don't want to know.
It would have been nice if Vince had gone out dunking over some seven-foot sequoia, but we're not sure there's enough spring left in those 43-year-old legs, so we'll take what we can get. In fact, that's pretty much how we feel about sports in general right now. Do we want full seasons, rowdy student sections, and Tiger roars reverberating around Augusta? We sure do, but in light of everything, we'll take what we can get.