The Best Moments From Vince Carter Against The Utah Jazz

SALT LAKE CITY, Utah – Longtime NBA legend Vince Carter officially retired Thursday. The 22 year NBA veteran announced his retirement on the Winging It podcast. The eight-time All-Star and former Rookie of the Year is a lock for the Hall of Fame. Throughout his career, Carter established himself as the best dunker in basketball history and had his fair share of highlights against the Utah Jazz.

Best Moments From Vince Carter Against The Utah Jazz

Raptors First Win in Utah

Carter made his career debut against the Jazz in his sophomore season. Due to the lockout-shortened season in 1999, the Jazz never faced the Toronto Raptors during Carter’s 1999 rookie campaign.

In Carter’s debut against the Jazz, the guard scored a team-high 18 points, grabbed four rebounds, and dished out four assists. The upstart Raptors would surprise the Jazz 100-87 in Salt Lake City, earning the franchise its first victory in Utah,

The Jazz would get revenge on the Raptors less than a month later, beating the Raptors in Toronto 103-88.

Vince Carter Sets Career Scoring Mark Against Jazz

Carter set his career-best scoring mark against the Jazz on November 10, 2001. The guard scored 43 points on 14-32 shooting against the Jazz, including 8-14 from three. The Raptors crushed the Jazz 117-96, pushing the aging roster to a 2-5 start to the season.

Carter never again broke the 40 point barrier against the Jazz, despite setting the mark in just the fourth season of his 22 year NBA career.

Facial Slam and Buzzer-Beating Three to Sink Jazz

Never was Carter’s greatness on better display than his January 29, 2007 performance in Salt Lake City. After picking up two quick fouls in the opening 63 seconds, Carter was forced to do his damage over the final three quarters of the game.

At his best, simply known as ‘Vince,’ Carter took over scoring 33 points against the Jazz, including a vintage poster dunk over Paul Millsap.

However, Carter saved his best play for last. The guard hit a buzzer-beating three-point jump shot to sink the Jazz 116-115, capping his best performance in the state of Utah.

Carter Posterizes Gobert

Beyond just a dunk contest performer, Carter has some of the best posterizing dunks in NBA history. Unfortunately for the Jazz, Rudy Gobert was on the wrong side of one of those finishes.

Vince Carter proves he's still got IT as he POSTERIZES the 7 footer Rudy Gobert #Vinsanity pic.twitter.com/qF5TE0ThHp

— Grizzlies Nation (@GrizNationCP) August 31, 2015

An amazing 16 years into his career, Carter proved he could still dunk over the best of them. However, the Jazz would go on to win the game in Memphis 97-91.

Gobert paid tribute to Carter after his retirement announcements.

Legend! https://t.co/0YLUq8ODiS

— Rudy Gobert (@rudygobert27) June 25, 2020

Carter’s Last Game Versus Jazz

Carter played his last game against the Jazz with the Atlanta Hawks in on March 21, 2019. The guard scored 10 points on 2-4 shooting from deep and added six rebounds.

⏳ about that time ⏳#TrueToAtlanta pic.twitter.com/S9u5eLxkr0

— Atlanta Hawks (@ATLHawks) March 21, 2019

Most impressively, Carter played 22 minutes, the most of any player off the Hawks bench that night in his 21st NBA season.

Jazz Guard Donovan Mitchell Pays Homage To Vince Carter

Though Carter doesn’t technically appear in the highlight, one of the best highlights in recent Jazz history wouldn’t exist without Vinsanity.

Good luck in retirement, @mrvincecarter15 ❤️

Thank you for all you've done for our game. pic.twitter.com/hvztucv3F5

— utahjazz (@utahjazz) June 25, 2020

During the 2018 NBA Dunk Contest, Mitchell removed his Jazz jersey to reveal a vintage Carter Raptors jersey. The Jazz guard mimicked Carter’s reverse, 360 windmill slam to lockup the contest victory while paying homage to the greatest dunker of all time.

In total, Carter played 43 games against the Jazz during his eye-popping four-decade career. The guard averaged 16 points, 4.5 assists, and 2.7 rebounds during his career against the team.

Though many of his career highlights came against the Jazz, fans across the state should celebrate the magnificent career of Vince Carter.