Vince Carter's first NBA coach remembers his monster dunk on Bryant Reeves: "I don't think he was ever the same player again"

Vince Carter’s first NBA coach remembers his monster dunk on Bryant Reeves: “I don’t think he was ever the same player again” originally appeared on Basketball Network.

The Toronto Raptors’ fourth season in the NBA began with muted expectations. The team slumped to only 16 wins during the 1997-98 season, and despite basketball’s growing popularity in the Great White North, Canada was unequivocally still a hockey country. The Raptors still had no playoff appearances under their belt and were looking for a spark to ignite the franchise.

Enter Vince Carter, a young rookie out of North Carolina known for his freakish athleticism and high-flying acrobatics on the court. It didn’t take long for Vince to make an impact in Toronto. As the Raptors’ head coach at that time, Butch Carter, recalled, it took just one dunk to mark a new era in the franchise’s history.

A dunk that shook Big Country

At that time, Canada had two basketball franchises: the Raptors and the Vancouver Grizzlies, which were led by 7-footer Bryant “Big Country” Reeves. The Grizzlies’ first-ever pick in the 1995 NBA Draft, the massive center had the makings of a solid NBA career before chronic back pain prematurely ended his playing days in 2002.

But in 1998, Reeves was still a formidable presence in the shaded lane. He was coming off a career year in which he averaged 16.3 points, 7.9 rebounds, 2.1 assists and 1.1 blocks per game. Carter saw Reeves not as a formidable defender but merely a minor obstacle, more of a bump in the road than a true roadblock.

“It was the first game we played in the Air Canada Center in Toronto,” Butch remembered, the sequence playing in his mind like it happened yesterday.

“We ran a slip play where Vince set a screen on the point guard and then took off for the rim,” he continued. “Our point guard threw it up and Vince dunked so hard on Big Country that it scared the s—t out of Big Country.”

“He got there too late, and I don’t think he was ever the same player again,” Butch stressed.

While it may be far-fetched to imply that Carter’s posterization of Reeves was a significant reason behind his quick fall from grace, the fact is that the latter played in only 25 games that season. Bryant returned to play the following season but hobbled his way to 8.6 points a game in his last two years in the league.

Helped basketball bloom in Canada

While Vancouver had the Grizzlies for only six seasons, the Raptors have gone the distance. They even won it all in 2019. A large part of their success and staying power can be attributed to Air Canada’s incredible star power and influence on the sport in a country that for so long was dominated by hockey.

“There is no question that the NBA wouldn’t be in Toronto right now if Vince hadn’t played for the Raptors,” Butch asserted. “Even when the fans didn’t understand the game, they all wanted to see what Vince would do next.”

“And Vince embraced the fans. He was the first NBA player to have basketball camps and clinics in Canada. Vancouver couldn’t hold onto a franchise because, in large part, they never had a star like Vince to market the game,” he added.

Carter’s performance not only elevated the Raptors but also inspired a new generation of Canadian basketball players. From Tristan Thompson to Andrew Wiggins to reigning league MVP Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, Carter paved the way for these young players to dream big and believe they could make it in the NBA.

This story was originally reported by Basketball Network on Aug 17, 2025, where it first appeared.

Vince Carter’s first NBA coach remembers his monster dunk on Bryant Reeves: “I don’t think he was ever the same player again”

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