The Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame revealed its 2024 Induction Class over the weekend.
Overall, 13 people will be honored for their accomplished careers, including former Dallas Maverick Vince Carter.
“I’ll never forget when we got him in [New] Jersey, I threw the ball over the backboard and asked why he didn’t catch it because I knew that he could jump,” current Mavs head coach and former teammate Jason Kidd told Mavs.com. “His athleticism is like no other. His talents, not just in basketball, but bowling. He can throw a football 70 yards. I might be short-changing him — I hope I’m not. But just his athleticism is like no other.”
“He had the ability to take over games scoring and the ability to catch any bad pass and make you look good,” Kidd continued. “So, I’m very happy for him to make it to the Hall of Fame.”
While many of Carter’s more memorable moments came during his days with the Toronto Raptors and New Jersey (now Brooklyn) Nets, he spent three seasons with Dallas, appearing in 223 games. After his stint in Dallas, he played for the Memphis Grizzlies, the Sacramento Kings, and the Atlanta Hawks.
Kidd was a teammate of Carter’s in New Jersey from 2004 to 2008, where they combined for five All-Star appearances — three by Carter and two by Kidd — but never advanced past the second round of the playoffs. The two reunited in Dallas during the 2011-2012 season, and the Oklahoma City Thunder swept the defending NBA champs in the first round of the playoffs.
Carter is the 10th person with ties to the Mavericks franchise to be named to the Hall of Fame, joining Kidd, Dirk Nowitzki, Alex English, Adrian Dantley, Tim Hardaway Sr., Steve Nash, Slater Martin, Dennis Rodman, and longtime head coach Don Nelson.
“It’s a surreal moment when you talk about the greats before you,” Kidd explained. “Your class that you’re going in with, it’s kind of like a movie when you reflect on your basketball career, and now you’re in the likes of the greats.”
“It’s an incredible weekend. It just goes by so fast. I just hope that he can enjoy each day and understand that this chapter of his basketball career to make it to the ultimate place is now fulfilled,” he added.
Carter finished his career as an eight-time All-Star and the 24th leading scorer in league history.
The rest of the Class of 2024 includes former players Chauncey Billups, Michael Cooper, Walter Davis, Dick Barnett, Michele Timms, and Seimone Augustus, former coaches Bo Ryan, Doug Collins, Harley Redin, and Charles Smith, and former executives Jerry West and Herb Simon.
West is the first person elected to the Hall of Fame as both a player and contributor. He was previously inducted as a player in the Class of 1980, and his silhouette appears on the NBA logo.
The Class of 2024 will officially be inducted into the Naismith Hall of Fame on August 16 and 17.
