Vince Carter says he retired from the NBA because of 'politics'

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Vince Carter says he retired from the NBA because of 'politics'

Originally posted on Larry Brown Sports
By Darryn Albert | Last updated Jul 23, 2026 10:41 PM ET

Vinsanity thinks that he could have kept playing in the NBA if not for some extracurriculars.

Retired former NBA All-Star Vince Carter made an interesting revelation this week on the latest episode of his “Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady” podcast.

Carter said that he had interest from NBA teams to continue his playing career but decided to walk away from the game instead because of “politics.”

“Even after Year 22, I still received a couple of phone calls with interest to come play that next year,” said Carter. “I wasn’t able to do it how I wanted to do it and walk away when I was ready to walk away. The politics of it now took over and I was like ‘Nah,’”

.@mrvincecarter15 still had interest from teams after his 22nd season. But once the politics started outweighing the joy of playing, he knew it was time to walk away on his own terms. pic.twitter.com/ffho9a3iBV
— Cousins with Vince Carter & Tracy McGrady (@VinceAndTmac) July 22, 2026

Carter, now 49 years old, indeed played in the NBA for a then-record 22 seasons from 1998-2020. He made eight career All-Star teams, earned two All-NBA selections and scored an impressive 25,728 career points before finally calling it quits in mid-2020.

As he aged, Carter was able to successfully reinvent himself as a beloved role player and an elder statesman who was still making an impact off NBA benches long after his physical ability dipped. He ended up playing for eight total teams in his NBA career and was ultimately inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

During his last career season, Carter averaged 5.0 points and 2.1 rebounds per game on 35/30/79 shooting splits for the Atlanta Hawks. Though Carter, who now works as an NBA analyst for NBC, did not elaborate on the politics that supposedly ended his playing career, he has at least been able to get some important basketball closure over the last couple of years.

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