Vince Carter came into the NBA wearing a dinosaur on his uniform, and at 42 years old, he's now a dinosaur in today's NBA.
And after making his NBA debut in Boston 21 years and two days ago, Carter will play his final game in Boston Friday night.
Prior to the game, C's President of Basketball Operations Danny Ainge presented Carter with a framed gift of a piece of the original parquet floor along with a photo of Carter and Paul Pierce.
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Ainge praised Carter's longevity — he's the only player in NBA history to play in four decades — and quality over the course of his career, but he didn't realize the gift proved to have extra meaning for the likely future Hall of Famer.
The photo depicted Carter's first field goal attempt of his lengthy career, an eight-foot jumper over Pierce. Carter was genuinely touched by the gesture, as you can witness in the video below:
Carter didn't actually play in the original Boston Garden — it just seems he's been playing that long — but the longevity of his career is incredible.
Current Celtic Romeo Langford wasn't even born when Carter made his debut in 1999, and one of Carter's teammates from that first game, Charles Oakley, just turned 56 years old.
Don't miss NBC Sports Boston's coverage of Hawks-Celtics, which begins Friday at 6:30 p.m. with Celtics Pregame Live followed by tip-off at 7:30 p.m. You can also stream the game on the MyTeams App.