The Early Years
Carter grew up in Daytona Beach, Florida. He played at Mainland High School from 1991-92 through 1994-95.
“My first dunk was in sixth grade [when Carter was 5’7’’]. A bunch of2 kids were over on the outside courts at Ormond Beach Middle School. We were sitting out there, and everybody was trying to dunk a tennis ball or a volleyball. I decided I’d try a basketball. I threw the ball up, went off of one leg, jumped, and got it with one hand. Believe me, it was amazing.
“This photo is of a dunk against New Smyrna Beach High School. My brother’s best friend, LaDarius Halton, played for their team, so it was pretty big for me because we used to work out3 together in the summer. They were pretty good that year, and they thought they could beat us—but they didn’t.
“In high school, dunking was all I wanted to do. Julius Erving4 was my role model. But at the same time, there were a lot of guys in the NBA who were doing just crazy5 dunks. So when I saw a crazy dunk on the highlights6, I would go out and try to imitate it. I wanted to try the windmill7 dunk in a game. I wanted to bring the dunk-contest dunks into a game.”
University of North Carolina
Carter attended the University of North Carolina from 1995-96 through 1997-98.
“This photo made the cover of Sports Illustrated. Travis Spivey tried to take a charge8. This is the year I got a dunk on Tim Duncan. It was all over sportsCenter9. After that, guys started to get out of my way when I tried to dunk. It always helps when you dunk on the best.”
2000 Slam Dunk10 Champion
Carter broke out at the Slam Dunk Contest during the 2000 NBA All-Star Weekend. He wowed11 viewers with a series of dunks that had never been done.
“A week before the contest—and nobody knows this—I had just had stitches in my finger. You’ll notice I have a wrap on my left hand—it was a rough week. I had a dunk routine12 that I was going to use, but I got to the contest and went with something totally different. I made up this dunk [shown below] when I was going to the contest. I saw something like it in a magazine: the guy jumping in the air, putting it through his legs. I wondered if I could do that with a bounce, so I just told [dunk partner] Tracy McGrady to bounce it and I’d go from there.
The Greatest Dunk Ever?
Playing for the U.S. National Team at the 2000 Summer Olympics, Carter leaped over 7’2’’ center Frederic Weis in a game against France.
“The Dunk. That’s what they call it. This wasn’t a plan... I don’t know how this happened. I’ve been asked so many times, ‘What was going through your mind?’ I saw Weis standing there and thought, ‘I’m gonna go to the rim13 and get there before he can draw the charge14.’ I remember touching him lightly. I thought he fell down or moved out of the way.
“Gary Payton’s brother had taped the game, and he showed me the dunk on his camera that night. We watched it like 11 times in a row15. I couldn’t believe it. I’d probably say it’s the best dunk of my career. It’s the most famous one.”
Rare Air
Carter swooped16 in for this one-handed jam in a game against the Cleveland Cavaliers on April 10, 2000.
“After the dunk contest people respected what I brought to the table. So they were always like, ‘I wonder what’s next? Is he going to do anything great?’ And I was like, ‘What else is there? What else would I have up my sleeve17?’
“On this play [Cavs guard] Brevin Knight undercut18 me on a lob, which he’ll probably deny to this day. I tell my teammates not to be afraid to throw the lob19, even if they think I won’t get it. I’ll try no matter what.”
Dunking on the Greats
Carter dunked over Miami Heat center Alonzo Mourning on Nov.7, 2005.’Zo is second among active NBA players in career blocks per game.
“You always hope you can dunk on the great shot blockers. When they block your shots, you want that challenge of going back at them. It’s not like I have a list of guys I want to dunk on. But I’ve been lucky enough to pull off20 a few dunks in my career on some big men who are great shot blockers. And this dunk is one of them.
“With the Nets, I feel like a rookie21 again—a rookie who knows what’s going on. I’m spoiled playing with Jason Kidd22. We don’t have any signals for lob passes—I just have to be watching for them. The first lob he threw me when I got here, it was underhanded and he threw it almost over the shot clock. I looked back at him, and he just said, ‘I wanted to see if you could get it.’
“I have some crazy ideas for dunks that I can’t say, because somebody else will steal them. But if I get a chance and I feel good... I’ll break them out23.”
出道
卡特在佛罗里达的托纳比奇长大，从1991-92赛季开始在梅茵兰高中打球，直到1994-95赛季。
“我的第一记扣篮是在六年级的时候（当时他身高5英尺7英寸——相当于1米7左右）。在奥蒙德比奇高中的室外球场上，一帮孩子过来玩球，我们都坐在那儿，然后大家开始试着用网球或排球扣篮，而我打算用篮球试试。我将球抛起，单腿起跳，然后单手扣篮。说真的，太奇妙了。”
“这是一张和新士麦那比奇高中比赛时拍的扣篮照片，我哥哥最好的朋友拉达里尔斯·霍尔顿为他们的队效力，因此这场比赛对我想当重要，因为我们暑期经常在一块儿训练。那年，他们打得相当好，他们觉得可以打赢我们，但是他们没有做到。”
上高中的时候，我总想扣篮，我心中的楷模是朱利叶斯?欧文，但是同时在NBA球队中也有许多扣篮很出色的人，每当我看到精彩扣篮场面的时候，我总会上阵，努力模仿一下。我想在比赛中尝试风车扣篮，我要将扣篮比赛时的扣篮动作带到赛场上。”
北卡大学
卡特1995-96赛季进入北卡大学，一直到1997-98赛季。
“这张照片刊登在《体育画报》封面上，这是特拉维斯·斯皮维试图阻挡我带球上篮。也就是在这一年，我成功地在邓肯头上扣篮，这件事被sportsCenter大量报道，此后，当我要扣篮的时候，大家开始让开。当你成为扣篮高手的时候，总会给你带来一些好处。”
2000年扣篮大赛冠军
在2000年NBA全明赛周末的扣篮比赛中，卡特脱颖而出，他给观众奉献了一系列前所未有的扣篮动作。
“比赛前一星期——没有人知道——我的手指刚刚缝过针，你会注意到我左手包裹着，那是很困难的一周。我打算比赛的时候表演常规的扣篮动作，但上场比赛的时候，我做了完全不同的动作。这个扣篮动作（如下图所示）是我比赛前想出来的，我曾在杂志上看到类似的动作：那人高高跳起，球从腿下穿过。我不知道我是否可以在球弹起的情况下完成这个动作，所以我告诉麦克格雷迪（扣篮搭档）将球弹起，我再起跳扣篮。”
有史以来最出色的一记扣篮？ 2000年卡特代表美国国家队参加了夏季奥运会，在对法国的一场比赛中，他起跳越过身高7英尺2英寸（相当于2.18米）的中锋弗雷德里克·维斯扣篮。
“那记扣篮，人们都这么说。那可不是事先准备好的……我不知道是怎么做出来的。我也被反复问起当时是怎么想的，我看到维斯站在那儿，心里想：‘在他站位阻挡我上篮之前，我要靠近篮筐，然后就势扣篮。’我记得轻轻地碰了他一下，我以为他被撞倒了或者是躲开了。
“加里·佩顿的兄弟录下这场比赛，那天晚上他在录像机上给我放了扣球的画面，我们连续看了11遍，我都难以置信。可以说这是我职业生涯中最棒的一次扣篮，也是最出名的一次。”
空中接力
2000年10月在同克里夫兰骑士队的一场比赛中，卡特空中接力，大力扣篮。
“扣篮比赛后，人们对我奉献的表演怀着敬佩之意，他们总会这样问：‘下一个动作是什么？他会有精彩的表现吗？”我会这样回答：“还有些什么？我还藏着什么样的秘密动作？’
“在这场比赛中，骑士队的后卫布莱文·奈特在我进行空中接力扣篮的时候，对我进行贴身防守，他可能到现在也不会承认。我告诉对队友不要害怕高抛球进行空中接力，即使认为我接不到球的时候也不要害怕。无论如何，我会全力以赴的。”
在大腕头上扣篮
2005年11月7日，卡特在迈阿密热队中锋阿朗佐?莫宁头上扣篮，莫宁在NBA现役球员中场均盖帽数排第二。
“你一直希望能够在盖帽高手头上扣篮。当他们盖了你的帽，你要接受挑战重新再来。我心里可没有一本帐，要在哪些人头上扣篮，但是，我很幸运做到了在一些大腕级盖帽高手头上扣篮。这张照片显示的是其中的一次。
“和网队的球员在一起的时候，我感到自己又像个新手，一个了解场上局势的新手。和贾森?基德一起打球的时候，我可真的被宠坏了，我们不用发出任何空中接力传球的信号，我要做的就是看到球来就扣。我记得基德第一次和我进行空中接力的情景，当我跑到位的时候，他低手把球传给我，而且刚好在24秒进攻时间结束的一瞬间。我回头看看他，他只是说：‘我想看看你是否能接到球。’
“我有一些很棒的扣篮想法，但我现在不能说，因为其他的人会套用的。如果有机会，身体状况好的时候，我会奉献出来。”
1. dunk n. 扣篮
2. a bunch of 一群、一帮
3. work out 训练
4. 朱利叶斯·欧文，1950年2月22日出生，1976-1983年在NBA打球。是NBA历史上第一位“飞人”，他最大的贡献是将滞空和飞翔的动作带入了NBA，并开创了艺术篮球的先河。他是第一个“在篮筐上面打球”的巨星。
5. crazy adj. （俚）极好的的；令人赞叹的
6. highlight n. 精彩场面
7. windmill n. 风车
8. charge n. 带球撞人。
take the charge：指对方在三秒区内带球上篮，防守队员站对方要经过的线路上不动，用身体阻挡对方上篮。
9. sportsCenter: 是美国ESPN的一栏电视体育节目。
10. slam dunk: 重扣，猛扣
11. vow [vau] v. 立誓奉献
12. routine n. 节目
13. rim [rim] n. 篮筐，篮圈
14. draw the charge=take the charge
15. in a row 连续
16. swoop v. 飞扑，猛扑
17. up one’s sleeve 秘密备用
18. undercut v. 指进攻球员跳投的时候，防守队员进行贴身防守，逼迫对方后仰或者改变投球姿势。因为贴身防守，跳投队员很可能落地后踩在对方的脚上而受伤。
19. lob n. 高抛球
20. pull off 努力实现
21. rookie n. 新手
22. Jason Kidd: 贾森·基德，新泽西网队后卫。连续4个赛季入选NBA“最佳阵容”(1998-99, 1999-2000, 2000-01和2001-02赛季) ；3次入选NBA“最佳防守阵容” (1998-99, 2000-01, 2001-02赛季)；1999-2000赛季，入选“第二防守阵容”5次入选“全明星阵容” (2002, 2001, 2000, 1998 and 1996年)；连续3个赛季平均每场助攻次数列NBA第1位（1999－2001赛季）；荣获2000年悉尼奥运会篮球比赛冠军。
23. break out 把…准备好供使用；拿出…供消费