Mystery Player #82
Friday, September 25, 2026 · already played
The answer
Spoiler for the puzzle of Friday, September 25, 2026. Today's puzzle is not revealed anywhere on this page.
Vince Carter
G-F · 1998–2020
Vince Carter's career
Vince Carter played 22 seasons between 1998 and 2020, across 8 franchises — Raptors, Nets, Magic, Suns, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Kings and Hawks. Over 1,541 regular-season games he averaged 16.7 points, 4.3 rebounds and 3.1 assists, finishing with 25,728 career points. He was 8× All-Star, 2× All-NBA and Rookie of the Year.
He entered the league in the 1998 draft, taken 5th overall, a lottery pick expected to start immediately. That makes him a product of the 1990s, and his career totals should be read against the pace and rules of that period.
Across a unusually long career of 22 seasons he was a consistent starter at 16.7 points per game.
- Games
- 1,541
- PPG
- 16.7
- RPG
- 4.3
- APG
- 3.1
- Points
- 25,728
- Rebounds
- 6,606
- Assists
- 4,714
- 3PM
- 2,290
Teams
- Raptors · 1999–2005
- Nets · 2005–2009
- Magic · 2010–2011
- Suns · 2011
- Mavericks · 2012–2014
- Grizzlies · 2015–2017
- Kings · 2018
- Hawks · 2019–2020
Honours
8× All-Star · 2× All-NBA · Rookie of the Year · 1× Olympic gold
How the clues read
Every guess that day was scored against Vince Carter across nine categories. These were the values behind the grid.
- Position:
- G-F
- Debut season:
- 1998
- Status:
- Retired
- Nationality:
- USA
- Teams:
- Raptors, Nets, Magic, Suns, Mavericks, Grizzlies, Kings, Hawks
- Points per game:
- 16.7
- Championships:
- 0
- All-Star selections:
- 8
Why this was a fair answer
Answers are never obscure by design: the pool is every NBA All-Star who debuted in the 1969-70 season or later, plus current players carrying a real scoring role. Vince Carter qualifies on the first route, with 8 All-Star selections — a perennial selection rather than a one-off.
With 8 franchises on his record, the shared-team clue was unusually generous here — a wide range of guesses would have lit it up green and pointed the wrong way as often as the right one. He never won a title, which quietly rules out a large share of the most-guessed names.
Play it yourself
This puzzle is still replayable — open Mystery Player #82 in the archive to play the round exactly as it was, or start today's puzzle. Archive rounds never affect your daily streak.