At 40-years-old, Memphis Grizzlies guard Vince Carter is the NBA’s oldest active player. It’s an odd dissonance, considering he’s one of the greatest natural athletes in NBA history and arguably the greatest dunker of all time. And yet, we do Carter a disservice in failing to take into account his love for the game. Part of his longevity is his commitment to his body, which allows him to still chase around young guys who were literally in pampers when he took home the Dunk Contest title in 2000. We caught up with Carter recently to discuss what he’s doing to still be able to do things like this.
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GQ: From the time you entered the league in ’98 until now, how much more of an importance have you seen in the focus on nutrition?
Vince Carter: The focus itself is different entirely in terms of nutrition and the equipment that is available now. They didn’t have NormaTec’s and Cryotherapy [when I entered the league]. It was just a cold tub and ice bags. You had your therapists, and still had nutritionists, but now technology is so advanced. They’re taking more information on monitoring the body to know what it’s doing and how it’s reacting and responding. It’s just a different ballgame as far as what’s accessible to you.
The NBA just released a gorgeous, high-quality reel of Toronto Raptors-era Vince destroying rims around North America
How big of a transition has that been for you with how far you’ve seen things advance?
It’s definitely a huge transition. But the important thing is it’s to protect the players. It’s all predicated on trying to avoid injury and trying to get guys to last longer. For as much as we hate—and I mean “we” as in basketball players—all the things there are to monitor your workload. In the end, for myself, you have an appreciation for it because you can gauge what needs to be done to last longer in the league.
What was different before?
My mindset would be "I’m young, I can ice and keep going." Now, it’s more important for me to understand what they’re telling me about my body. So, if my legs are heavy, that’s my body telling me I need more sleep or to stretch. I have to listen to that now and be more attentive to the nutritionist and the body load numbers that comes from games and practices.
Looking at how technology has advanced and all the information that is available now, is there anything you wish you had earlier in your career?
Man, I wish the Cryotherapy, Normatech’s and all the other outlets were around for sure. You had to figure it out back then and that’s still the case for guys now. Now, there are some guys who will come in and they’ll get it. Maybe because they had it in college and they went to a great program that was more advanced as far as taking care of the body. But when you’re young, you’re still trying to establish yourself as a player, so you want every opportunity there is to play. Now, they’re trying to provide all of that, but it’s kind of hard to see the big picture sometimes as a young guy.
Everything is kind of thrown at you at one time and you’re still in the figure-it-out stage. That’s the case still in year two, three, and four, regardless if you’re classified as a star, or a superstar. You go from trying to figure out the NBA to now trying to figure the NBA out as a star or superstar. So you’re trying to figure out how to carry that load while keeping your body intact, and now that goes back to nutrition because now you’re playing more minutes and there’s more of a workload. You’re not just sitting in the corner anymore. Now, you’re always in the pick and roll or iso’s. That’s more stress on your body and you have to learn how to utilize all this technology and information at your disposal to still perform at a high level. It’s a lot that goes into it that you might not necessarily think about, because the mindset is “lets go play.”
I’m sure you can’t eat the same way now that you did at 25, 30 or 35. Are there any foods you try to avoid or get more of now with having to focus more closely on what you’re putting into your body to get what you need out of it?
I try to eat lots of vegetables and greens. I like foods that fuel. I’m a sweater, so I prefer pasta for my pre-game meals most of the time. I don’t drink soda because I lose so much [fluid] when I play that I need to replenish. I don’t really eat as much fried food as I would have when I was younger because my body can’t shed it as fast. I’m able to have more bad days than the average older guy with just the way my body works, but I don’t take advantage of that. I know I can get away with bad days, but I don’t do it all the time. For me, playing in this league and playing a lot of minutes, I make sure I have the energy foods that kind of help me perform. I don’t really eat pork as much. There’s no particular reason. I just stay away from it. I’m just smart about what I eat and the times I eat.
There are times where I’ve seen postgame meals consisting of pizza and wings and there’s a flight to catch afterward. How do you maintain trying to eat healthy later with landing in a city in the early morning and the options available at those times not being the healthiest?
That’s a challenge but there’s also little things that I don’t hear people talk about as much that I think is very important that I learned as a young kid. The one thing my mom told me—and I hated it—was when I eat, whether it’s bad or good, not to go right to sleep. Sit up for 30 minutes. I think that’s an issue for us because we eat late at night. I don’t care if you go out or not, you go straight to bed afterward because we’re getting into cities late at night and you’re ready to get to bed, so the food sits there. You want to stay up, so the food can run its course and digest. That’s been a big thing for me over my career. It might sound stupid, but that’s something I’ve always done. I don’t care how tired I am, I just try to sit up instead of laying down, so the food doesn’t sit in my stomach. And stretching helps me a lot, as far as keeping my body loose and intact, as well.
That sounds like sound advice for anyone.
Digesting your food is a major factor. I think the general population makes the mistake of eating late, being tired, and wanting to lay down and that food is just sitting there... It’s always been something that has been a part of my family for a long time before all of the technology. When your food is properly digested, you sleep better and your energy should be better the next day. [There’s] a lot that plays into it. Everyone has his or her ideas and things that works for them. This is something that I know that has worked for me.
You did mention you do allow yourself some cheat days. What are some guilty pleasures of yours?
I ’ve learned that I’m willing to do the work when I have my cheat days. So let’s start by saying that. [laughs] I’m not a big sweets guy, but I’m a chocolate chip cookie guy and a red velvet guy. That’s pretty much it. I’ll have a burger if I’m going to cheat but I’ll try and do it on the healthy side, if that’s possible. So I won’t eat the bread with the burger. I’ll try and compromise with myself. With that being said, I’d much rather get a grilled chicken sandwich without the bun if I’m going to cheat like that because I don’t eat fast food very often... If I cheat, I know I have to put in a little more work. Fortunately, for me, I’m constantly running the bad stuff off. I was blessed with good genes, but I know everyone isn’t like that.
What are some things you’ve adopted now that you didn’t necessarily have in your routine when you were younger?
I’m a big water drinker now. I’m also a cranberry juice drinker. I know it has lots of sugar, but I don’t drink it all day like I used to. If I’m having a meal, I’ll have one glass of cranberry juice and lots of water. I won’t drink [juice] just sitting around the house anymore. It will have to be with a meal.
I can’t tell you the last time I had a soda. I see my friends or some of the young guys after a game drinking it and my body feels like it’s going to cramp up just watching them drink it. When you’re trying to break habits, it’s extremely hard. I remember trying to cut back on the cranberry juice and just trying to drink water. It was hard to do! I felt like cutting back on cranberry juice made water taste nasty. How is that possible? [laughs]
Everyone marvels at the things you can still do at 40, but describe the commitment and preparation to still be able to even try those things?
People always say, “You’re not suppose to be able to still do these things.” I know that. But my preparation in the summer sets everything up prior to that, so during the season, all I’m doing is maintaining and keeping it at the level I need to be able to compete at this level… I had to develop the routine to make it work.
Developing the routine is the easy part but sustaining it is where a lot of people have difficulty.
The toughest part is getting your body to cooperate when you need it to. Then comes the hours in the gym, the sacrifices you have to make. I was a guy who liked to go out, listen to music and hit the club sometimes, and I had to make sacrifices. I know I can’t go hang out, have a drink and be able to play the next day. In general, I just can’t go out. [laughs]
If I’m going to be up late, I’m going to be up late in my room with my feet up. I might be up late like the other young guys who are able go out, but I’m up with my legs in a NormaTech, icing my knees or just being off my feet. That makes a huge difference and I learned that. You just have to learn your body, learn what works and be honest with yourself. Yes, I would love to go out, but I love this job, love competing, and that’s way more important than hanging out. If I want to listen to music, there’s Apple Music. [laughs]
This is all great information because I think for most people, when we see you do things now that remind us of your youth, we just automatically chalk it up to you being blessed with great genes and athletic ability. Which is true but we aren’t privy to the preparation.
You’re absolutely correct. I am blessed with great genes, but I feel like you do yourself a disservice just being content with that. I’m trying to stay as close to that guy that we all know and remember, and I know that it’s possible. I know I’m not going to be Vince from 2000, 2005, 2010. But I can get as close as possible if I continue putting the work in.
