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Vince Carter gets rejected by the rim, makes us all face our inevitable fate

Last week, a still photograph taken during a workout at the P3 sports science institute in Santa Barbara, Calif., informed us that Vince Carter could still jump awfully high, even at 38 years of age. On Tuesday night, though, footage of the Memphis Grizzlies' preseason matchup with the Houston Rockets offered a cruel reminder that, even for arguably the greatest dunker of all time, 38's not so tender an age.

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The icy grip of certainty circled around our wrists and pulled near the midpoint of the third quarter, with the man who gave us all Vinsanity leaking out on the left wing after Jeff Green rebounded a Ty Lawson miss. Carter took a dribble, saw Houston power forward Terrence Jones giving only a token effort to get back and protect the rim, and made his way to the tin for the flush, just as he has countless times in the past ...

... only this time, the elevator let him out a few floors below the penthouse, much to the chagrin of the Grizz fans assembled at the Grindhouse.

After coming up short on the right side of the rim, Carter stumbled out of bounds in front of the Rockets bench and began looking for a foul — a veteran move, to be sure, and probably the only explanation Vince could accept for what had just transpired. I mean, he was there at P3; he knows he can still do this ... right?

Wince Carter. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE/Getty Images)
Wince Carter. (Jeff Haynes/NBAE/Getty Images)

Yes. For the time being, let's all choose to believe that; it is, after all, better than the alternative.

Plus, y'know, it's preseason. Gotta build up to the fireworks and save your powder for live action, especially with all those highlight flights in the rearview, right? Yeah. That's the ticket.

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Carter finished with four points, two assists and a steal in 14 minutes of work in the Grizzlies' 92-89 win over the Rockets at FedEx Forum. More importantly, after a first season in Tennessee spent mostly moving gingerly and playing ineffectively, "there was Carter, running without a limp," according to Geoff Calkins of the Memphis Commercial Appeal — cold comfort, perhaps, but that's better than no comfort at all ... especially after watching the man we once called Air Canada experience a failure to launch.

Back in 2013, Carter — then a Sixth Man of the Year candidate for the Dallas Mavericks — spoke with Steve McPherson of the New York Times about making the late-career shift from skyscraper to groundbound grinder, and the process of deciding whether to dunk.

“Nowadays? I do it because I can, but sometimes, the landings suck," he said.

Sometimes, the flight ain't so great, either.

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Dan Devine is an editor for Ball Don't Lie on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at devine@yahoo-inc.com or follow him on Twitter!

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