15 Years Ago, Vince Carter Jumped Over A 7-Footer And Dunked The Shit

Exactly 15 years ago today, Vince Carter jumped over 7-foot-2 French center Frédéric Weis and dunked the ball at the 2000 Sydney Olympics. You remember, right? Right.

I was 12 when I was watching this game; it was the greatest sports thing I’d ever seen, and I haven’t seen a greater sports thing since. I don’t need or even particularly want to break down the play, because I still don’t know exactly what happened or how it happened, and because the above video of various announcers from various countries all reacting the same exact way, ditching their native languages and suddenly speaking in tongues while trying to process what they just saw in real time, suffices just fine. I mean, this shit was so ridiculous that Kevin Garnett’s reaction to it turned him into my favorite player.

ESPN also has a good, long oral history on the dunk which puts Carter, Weis, and the dunk itself into context and makes for fine reading on this blessed, monumental day, so I’ll leave you to it. But real quick, I just want to point out one detail that is somewhat lost to history but, to me, best encapsulates the greatest sports thing to ever happen, and that thing is this: There was no foul.

Photo via Getty/Darren McNamara