Vince Carter initially planned on pulling out a different series of dunks for the 2000 Slam Dunk contest but ditched them after deciding they weren't good enough to win.
The retired guard looked back at his legendary performance Monday during an interview with TNT's Ernie Johnson, explaining how he scrapped his original plan just before the start of the contest.
"It was 'ooh-ahh' for a lot of people, but it didn't feel right," Carter said. "It didn't have the wowing factor, if you would ... that's not what I'm looking for. I'm looking for the, 'Oh my gosh, wait, what?' type things and I just didn't have that feel, so I just scrapped that dunk.
"The one-step, 180-windmill dunk under the basket, I had scrapped that dunk ... when I got there, the dunks that I originally had planned, I was like, 'This is not going to win. It's not going to win.' So, I scrapped it right there on the spot. I'm just trying to pull things that I had done from times past that I felt would win or present the wow factor."
"The dunks that I originally had planned, not gonna win... so I scrapped it right there on the spot."@mrvincecarter15 on his mindset going into his legendary performance in the 2000 Slam Dunk Contest. #NBATogether pic.twitter.com/AFbfoUYi61
— NBA (@NBA) July 7, 2020
The 2000 dunk contest was Carter's first and only appearance at the event.
