Le Dunk De La Mort

You all remember this transcendent sports moment from the 2000 Olympics right? When Vince Carter - literally, figuratively, anything else - was at the height of his rise, threw down a dunk over Frederic Weis that was so memorable, it was called “La Dunk De La Mort” by the French media. Translated to English, it means the dunk of death.

While we’re all familiar with what happened to Carter after, he of the underachieving career and a tumultuous end in Toronto, whatever happened to the man on the other side of this poster?

Weis was drafted 15th overall by the New York Knicks in 1999, but suffered a serious back injury that prevented him from signing with the team. When he recovered, interest in the NBA were lukewarm. Weis would spend the next decade playing professionally in Spain.

Earlier this year, Weis announced his retirement from basketball after recurring knee problems. In his words: “We tried a number of different treatments and I’ve actually already gone over the quota of treatments by a mile so it’s enough.”

His pro basketball career ends without ever playing a game in the NBA. But he will forever be remembered for that one moment. And in case you’re wondering what he thinks about the dunk and if it bothers him: “Why? I didn’t do anything. It was just him doing something incredible. I can only imagine. If he jumped over me, he can jump over anybody! If people laugh, I laugh too. At least I can I say I once played against him.”

Follow @steven_lebron on twitter.