Last month in Orlando, I caught up with longtime NBA superstar Vince Carter at Lake Nona’s clubhouse. Carter was there as a celebrity participant at the Hilton Grand Vacations (HGV) Tournament of Champions, and he had just come off the golf course after playing a round with soccer legend Brandi Chastain and LPGA Tour star Brooke Henderson.
The ex-NBA guard-forward, who played 22 seasons of pro basketball, characterized golf as not only one of his favorite pastimes but an activity that taps his competitive juices while making him all the more zen.
Carter mentioned that he and Henderson, Canada’s top player on the LPGA Tour, have hit the course many times before.
“Brooke and I have played for a couple of years. It’s like old hat. She’s a great girl,” Carter said during our interview after Day 2 of the HGV.
Carter also mentioned that his time playing for the Toronto Raptors, mainly as their shooting guard for eight seasons, has helped him build a lot of relationships in sports.
“We’ve meshed because of (Henderson’s) Canadian roots,” Carter said of Henderson. “I’ve gotten to know her and her sister (and caddie) over the years, and like to reach out to support her in all the wins she’s had as a pro."
Henderson has won two majors and had 13 wins on the LPGA Tour, while winning top honors at the HGV Tournament of Champions in 2023. She also held the world No. 1 ranking for 20 weeks, during her career.
MORE FOR YOU
BlackRock CEO Issues Serious Warning Amid $1 Trillion Bitcoin And Crypto Price Sell-Off
iOS 18.3.2: Apple’s Surprise iPhone Update Fixes 1 Bug, Adds 1 Frustration
NYT Mini Hints, Clues And Answers For Thursday, March 13
When I asked Carter how long he’s been playing golf, he responded by talking about his time as a college athlete with the North Carolina Tarheels.
“I started playing (golf) in 1998, thanks to coach Dean Smith, actually.” Smith was head coach at UNC from 1961 to 1997, bringing Carter to the two-time NCAA national champions in 1995. Carter played for the Tarheels for three seasons before moving toward the NBA Draft.
“It was Dean Smith who told Antawn Jamison and I to consider golf, because he said great things happen on the golf course. Here are two young guys, looking into it—I was I around age 20 at the time.”
Carter then said he sought out “some cheap clubs” to hit the course, “and I just started wacking away at it.”
Shortly after Carter joined the NBA, the 1998-1999 season started as a lockout year. He was in Canada with the Raptors, where he said it was often too cold to play a round of golf.
At the end of that shortened first NBA season, Carter got the nod as the NBA’s 1998-1999 Rookie of the Year. He averaged 18.3 points per game (PPG) that year, while also being named in contention for the league MVP Award. Alongside his successes on the hardwood, golf was always tugging at him.
“I would play during the summers, sometimes try to play after the summers when it was too cold, but as I got older and kept playing,” Carter said.
He added that their are a lot of parts of golf that translate to other sports, especially when you are a high-level professional athlete.
“There are definitely lessons you can learn in golf, especially when it comes to how to stay even-keeled. I still struggle with that because I am so competitive. Golf is about staying in the moment and in basketball I was always focused on staying in the moment."
Vince Carter #15 of the Toronto Raptors makes a slam dunk during the game against the Seattle ... [+] SuperSonics at the Key Arena in Seattle, Washington, March 9, 2001:Getty Images
Carter went on. "I think Coach Smith’s intentions were—in suggesting golf—about opportunity. When you begin, you know you’re not good, so you have low expectations. Then when you try to really learn it, the game will scramble your brain a bit.”
Since retiring at the end of the 2019-2020 NBA season, Carter has made golf a priority, attending celebrity tournaments whenever he can. Earlier this month Carter sat down with the PGA Tour’s press team to talk about what clubs are in his bag.
“Golf has helped me in a lot of ways,” Carter further explained. “But it’s given me, since being retired, my need for competition. I’m always told you can’t defeat the course.”
“When you first come into the game, you don’t think about the short game in terms of all of its challenges," Carter added. "More people know about driving the ball and putting. Everything else in between—you just learn.”
Carter also said hs suspects that most people who pick up golf as an adult don’t think about much more at first than the tee-off and getting their ball into the hole. He said the aspiring golfers mindset evolves after about a dozen rounds.
“Think about when somebody goes to Top Golf. The first club they’re going to pick is going to be a driver. And you think you about hitting the ball harder to get it further. But it’s a learning process.”
I asked Carter about his favorite places to play and where he’s played that was on the top of his original bucket list.
“I’ve played Augusta. So that’s the creme de la creme.” Carter also mentioned East Lake in Atlanta, and Winged Foot in Mamaroneck, New York, just outside New York City. “Winged Foot was a long course. But I loved it and the conditions were great.”
He also mentioned, “as a hidden gem, Isleworth Golf & Country Club, outside Orlando,” located just a mile away from Bay Hill, Arnold Palmer’s legendary location. “I’m a member there, so I have to give it a plug,” Carter joked.
According to Carter, another hidden gem is The Grove XXIII, Michael Jordan’s ultra-private, ultra-exclusive personal golf course.
ORLANDO, FLORIDA - JANUARY 31: Former NBA player Vince Carter plays his shot from the 18th tee ... [+] during the second round of the Hilton Grand Vacations Tournament of Champions 2025 at Lake Nona Golf & Country Club on January 31, 2025 in Orlando, Florida. (Photo by Cliff Hawkins/Getty Images)Getty Images
“My goal,” Carter said in conclusion, “is to play all of the TPC courses. I’ve played TPC Sawgrass. On the famous 17th (hole) there I put it on the green, but with too much spin, and it went in the water.”
Another interesting thing about golf, Carter says, is that his son is right-handed but has learned to play golf as a lefty. “He learned golf left-handed by mirroring me.”
Post-NBA retirement: A full-time job
Last year, Vince Carter was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame. The eight-time NBA All-Star and Olympic gold medalist (2000) remains active in the game and the NBA today, primarily through his work as a TV commentator.
“I have to watch the game, unfortunately, but I get paid to watch it.” Carter joked. “Since I call games for the Nets, the Raptors and I do studio work for TNT, I find myself watching more basketball now than I did as a player.”
Carter said that one main difference for him on the other side of the NBA broadcast is the greater depth of knowledge he needs just to talk hoops professionally.
“It’s just a lot of information and general random knowledge you need to know about the game, particularly in the studio. You need to know what’s going on with certain teams, all teams really.”
Carter added that he doesn’t just keep up with the stats of key players; he also spends more time on social media watching highlights and staying abreast of every aspect of competition in today’s NBA.
“When I came into the league there was no such thing as social media. Now I have to keep on top of what those who cover the NBA are reporting, and news from different sports apps.”
But he points out that in the mere five years he’s been out of the league that a lot has changed. The return of the center and the “big man”—players like Joel Embiid, Nikola Jokić, and Giannis Antetokounmpo—as the dominant lynchpin is very different from the late 1990s when quick and nimble guards like Carter, Michael Jordan and Allen Iverson ran roughshod over everyone in the game.
“There’s a new crop of guys that are doing wonderful things in the game.”