Vince Carter officially retires after 22 years in NBA

MANILA, Philippines — Vince Carter has officially announced his retirement following a record 22 seasons in the NBA.

On his podcast "Winging It With Vince Carter", the 43-year-old made it official that he was hanging up his jersey for good.

"I'm officially done playing basketball professionally," Carter said.

Carter's final year in the NBA was cut short after the 2019-20 season was suspended early March due to the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.

His current squad, the Atlanta Hawks, were not invited to the NBA's return with only 22 teams going to Orlando, Florida to play the rest of the delayed season.

Carter's final NBA game came on March 11 (March 12, Manila time) right before the league announced the season suspension.

The Atlanta Hawks were playing against the New York Knicks, Carter made the final bucket of his career -- a 3-pointer coming off an assist from Trae Young.

Throughout his long career, Carter was most known for his time with the Toronto Raptors.

He led the Canadian squad to their first-ever franchise playoff appearance in his rookie season in 1998.

He also made headlines from being one of the most high-flying and entertaining dunkers in the game.

Carter famously won the Slam Dunk Contest in 2000 where he inspired a generation of dunkers and helped resurrect the hype over the NBA dunk contest.

While Carter never won an NBA championship or a league MVP, the 43-year-old becme one of the most well-respected players in the league.

He is also the only NBA player to have competed in four different decades of the NBA.