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Carter on Monday texted this reaction to the news that Collins has become the first active male openly gay athlete in American professional team sports. "I'm happy for Jason being able to stand up and be true to himself," Carter texted. "My hat's off to a true NBA pro & person." Dallas Morning News

Vince Carter, Jason Collins 

With hopes of seizing that title within the next few years, Carter will once again concentrate on an offseason of conditioning to return for his 16th season ready to lead the Mavs back to the postseason. “I’ll say this, I accomplished my goal. Coming in as a young rookie, I said I wanted to play 15 years,” he confessed. “Why I said that? I have no idea. There’s a lot of great players who didn’t play that many years, and I felt like 15 years was one heck of a career. And now that 15 years is over, I woke up this morning like I can still go. You know, I can still play and I feel great. NBA.com

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter 

Vince Carter: “We’ll see. Some people are like, ‘Oh, you look like you can play five years.’ I don’t see five years. I don’t see five years, I’ll say that for sure. But I feel like year to year I’ll probably assess myself and see how I’m feeling. But if I feel like this, three or four will be good. Five years, I don’t really see that happening.” NBA.com

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter 

Does that mean Carter will be with the Mavericks beyond next season, when his contract expires? “I hope so,” Cuban said. “The current trend is, as guys get older, they lose a little weight and I think Vince is athletic enough and smart enough and genetically gifted enough that if he goes on that same Steve Nash, Dirk, Tim Duncan path, where you lose a little bit of weight every year and keep your spring, he’s a genetic freak. “He can play for more than a year, easily. He’ll be cranking those motorcycle handles for a while.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter, Mark Cuban 

Vince Carter is the sixth man on the Mavericks but has played the third-most minutes on the team this season. He poured in 22 points against Minnesota and 23 against Milwaukee in victories this week. He’s no role player for the Mavericks — and he’s 36. “Thirty-six is the new 30,” Cuban said. “It’s a plus-six right now. Ten years from now it will be a plus-10. Guys that are coming out of college now will be playing at 42 and 43 if they’re good. “Look at Vince, for gosh sakes. What’s he … 93? [Actually] 36? That’s a plus-two on Dirk. It’s just different now.” Dallas Morning News

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter, Mark Cuban 

Earl K. Sneed: Vince Carter says he was honored by Terrence Ross' tribute and reached out to the Slam Dunk champ. Twitter @EKS_MavsNBA

Dallas Mavericks, Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter, All-Star, Terrence Ross 

Move over, Larry Legend. Vinsanity still has a few special moments in him. Vince Carter scored 26 points to pass Larry Bird on the NBA's career scoring list, and the Dallas Mavericks headed into the All-Star break with a 123-100 victory against the Sacramento Kings on Wednesday night. Carter earned his nickname with circus dunks, but can't quite rattle the rim like he used to. He's more dangerous these days from one of the places where Bird did plenty of damage: the three-point line. USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter, Larry Bird 

Zach Lowe: And...Vince gives the MJ "shrug" with another three to pass Larry Legend on the all-time scoring list. Twitter @ZachLowe_NBA

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter, Larry Bird 

This past Saturday, Donnie Nelson assured three members of the media that the Dallas Mavericks will not make any trades by the Feb. 21 trading deadline unless it's an "over the top'' deal. After this morning's shoot around at American Airlines Center, coach Rick Carlisle joined in on the party. "If you're asking me if we're going to trade anybody, I don't think we're going to,'' Carlisle said. "That's my opinion. "I don't think we're going to trade (Shawn) Marion, I don't think we're going to trade Vince (Carter), I don't think we're going to trade anybody. That's my opinion.'' Fort Worth Star-Telegram

Dallas Mavericks, Trade, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion 

You can certainly understand why Marion said what he said, undoubtedly hoping to dissuade potential suitors from even inquiring about him, but the fact he can still produce like that doesn’t exactly make him undesirable. The trade deadline is Feb. 21. And what will likely keep Marion in Dallas, as much as anything, is the option year in his contract next season valued at $9.3 million. Marion will be exercising that option at season’s end no matter how Dallas’ attempt to sneak into the eighth spot in the West turns out. If Marion’s deal was expiring at season’s end, rest assured you’d be hearing trade speculation about him daily, given that the Mavericks are forced to at least consider the possibility of moving out veterans such as Marion and Vince Carter for down-the-road assets such as draft picks when they’re so far out of title contention. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Trade, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion 

The NBA announced Thursday that rookie forward Terrence Ross (@T_DotFlight31) has been selected to participate in the Sprite Slam Dunk Contest on All-Star Saturday Night presented by State Farm. Ross is the fifth Raptor invited to participate in the event, joining Vince Carter (2000), Tracy McGrady (2000), Jamario Moon (2008) and DeMar DeRozan (2010 and 2011). This year’s contest will take place Saturday, February 16 at the Toyota Center in Houston and will be broadcasted on TSN2 and TNT beginning at 8:30 p.m. (ET). Raptors.com

Toronto Raptors, Vince Carter, Tracy McGrady, DeMar DeRozan, Jamario Moon, Terrence Ross, All Star Game 

A league source Wednesday characterized the odds of Dallas moving Carter by the Feb. 21 as a “long shot.” Which Carter said suits him just fine, despite the Mavs needing a significant run just to get into playoff contention. NBA.com

Dallas Mavericks, Trade, Vince Carter 

Keep an eye on Dallas, as rival executives believe the Mavericks will look to unload some of their older money if they keep losing (aka Shawn Marion, who is owed $9.3 million in the last year of his deal in 2013-14, or Vince Carter, who is owed $3.1 million in the last year of his deal in 2013-14). Dallas has lost 17 of its past 26 games and plays at Oklahoma City Monday. USA Today Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Trade, Vince Carter, Shawn Marion 

On the final possession of the first half, Carter missed a jumper that was rebounded by teammate Elton Brand to give the Mavericks the last shot. Carter appeared to come down in pain, stayed in the corner, and eventually waved off point guard Darren Collison so that he could be considered out of the play. Rookie wing Harrison Barnes then sloughed off Carter to help in defending the Mavs' able-bodied players. Except it turned out that Carter was only faking out the rookie, and he cut to the hoop as soon as Collison passed to Brand in the high post. Carter completed an easy dunk to cut the halftime deficit to 55-53, and Barnes surely learned never to trust him again. In fairness to Carter, he did come down from the rim a bit gingerly, so it's possible that he was feeling some discomfort. Either way, though, he greatly exaggerated the pain to fool Barnes, and it worked. Yahoo! Sports

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter 

Marc Stein: Mavs were indeed interested in Calderon, as they've been for ages, but refused to part w/Vince Carter and thus couldn't trump Prince & Daye Twitter @ESPNSteinLine

Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Toronto Raptors, Trade, Vince Carter, Jose Manuel Calderon 

Marc Stein: ESPN sources say Dallas is other prime landing spot for Calderon, but I'm told Mavs reluctant to part with SF that Grizz want: Vince Carter Twitter @ESPNSteinLine

Dallas Mavericks, Detroit Pistons, Memphis Grizzlies, Toronto Raptors, Trade, Vince Carter, Rudy Gay, Jose Manuel Calderon 

Carter, who turns 36 next Saturday, is in his 15th season, having reached a goal he once set for longevity. Carter, who has a team option on his contract next season for $3.18 million, didn’t want to speculate on how many more seasons he would like to play but said he definitely plans to be around for 2013-14. “I just go year-to-year, contract-to-contract,’’ said Carter, who is averaging 12.3 points to drop his career average to 21.1. “My ultimate goal coming into the NBA was to play 15 years, so here I am, Now, we’ll see what happens.’’ FOXSports Florida

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter 

So Carter will be eligible for the Hall of Fame around the start of the next decade. Will he join Artis Gilmore and David Robinson, who was born in Key West before moving as a child, as just the third Florida native to make it? “That’s a tough call,’’ said Dallas center Chris Kaman. “I lean toward yes, but then again, you never know. … The cons are he never won a ring, but the pros are he had some great seasons where he really played well, went to All-Star Games, and with the amount of points he’s scored.’’ FOXSports Florida

Dallas Mavericks, Vince Carter, Chris Kaman, Hall of Fame 

“It will probably be tough for him to get in on the first ballot because you just got to be head and shoulders above (other candidates),’’ said Heat forward Chris Bosh, who played with Carter in Toronto in 2003-04 and the first part of the next season and said he would give the nod to Carter if he ever had a vote. “It could go (by the voters), ‘Yeah, you’re an individual player’ … but he put the Toronto Raptors on the map. If he hadn’t been there, people wouldn’t know who the Toronto Raptors were.’’ FOXSports Florida

Dallas Mavericks, Miami Heat, Vince Carter, Chris Bosh, Hall of Fame 

Dallas is more apt to try to trade Vince Carter to a contender that could use an extra shooter, or pitch the likes of Brandan Wright to a team in search of one more big man, in hopes of securing an extra draft pick or shedding a little extra salary. ESPN.com

Dallas Mavericks, Trade, Vince Carter, Brandan Wright