Vince Carter said he could never replicate his incredible dunk over a 7-foot-2 opponent
Friday marked the 15th anniversary of basketball's most incredible slam dunk. During the 2000 Sydney Olympics, Vince Carter famously scored by somehow jumping right over France's Frédéric Weis, who is 7 feet 2 inches tall.
In case you need a refresher:
To commemorate the occasion, ESPN compiled a delightful oral history of how it all went down, complete with interviews from Carter and Weis and accounts from other players, coaches, and reporters who were lucky enough to witness the historic play.
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"We'd mess around in practice, and I'd try to jump over [my teammates]," Carter said. "I'd trip over guys or fall. I just could never do it the same."
Carter, who is now gearing up for his 18th NBA season, said the dunk didn't really sink in until after the game, when he watched it seven times on a spectator's personal camcorder.
Weis said he closed his eyes during the dunk, and who can blame him?
Leave it to the losing player to keep things in perspective: "It was great," Weis said. "But at the end of the day, it was just two points."
Get the entire story behind those iconic two points here.
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Julie Kliegman is a freelance writer based in New York. Her work has appeared in BuzzFeed, Vox, Mental Floss, Paste, the Tampa Bay Times and PolitiFact. Her cats can do somersaults.
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