Anthony Carter, or just simply “AC,” is reflecting on his Miami Heat’s historic run in the 2023 NBA playoffs. The former star guard of the University of Hawaiʻi men’s basketball team spent just two seasons with the Rainbow Warriors from 1996–98, but had a lasting impact on and off the court.
The eighth-seeded Heat were on the brink of elimination in the Eastern Conference play-in tournament. That’s when their run began, taking down the Chicago Bulls, top-seeded Milwaukee Bucks, New York Knicks and the second-seeded Boston Celtics in a nail-biting seven-game series. Despite falling to the Denver Nuggets for the Larry O’Brien Trophy, Carter is proud of his team’s effort to become the first team in the play-in tournament to make the finals.
“We just kept the guys together—Spoel (Head Coach Erik Spoelstra), all of the staff and the trainers, the strength and conditioning guys—everybody stayed with it because we knew we had a special group of guys,” Carter said.
The 2023 season marked his fifth in Miami as a member of Spoelstra’s staff and second in the role of assistant coach and director of player development.
“Just being able to give back the knowledge that I learned as a player to some of the players that we have because a lot of them were in my shoes, coming from being undrafted, or coming from a rough neighborhood, single-parent homes and things like that,” Carter said on what he enjoys the most about coaching.
Carter’s impact at UH
Carter came to Mānoa in 1996 as a transfer from Saddleback Community College. The Atlanta, Georgia native made an impact in his first game, scoring 14 points during a rout of Texas-Pan American, 76-48. Those points would become the first of 1,070 in just two seasons, ranking him 13th in career scoring. He averaged 18.9 points per game, second highest in school history, while his 6.9 assists per game average set a new school career record.
Carter led the ‘Bows to a pair of National Invitation Tournament appearances and a Western Athletic Conference (WAC) regular season title in 1997. He was a two-time Associated Press honorable mention All-American and the school’s first WAC Player of the Year in 1997.
“The biggest thing was just the fans—the culture and the people over there in Hawaiʻi. Those are like my family members,” Carter said. “The two years that I spent there were two of the best years of my life as far as competing on the court, and then just walking around the university or Waikīkī or at the mall and people recognize you. They say, ‘Anything you need, AC, we got you.’ I wish I had four years there.”
Dynamic duo
When many think of Anthony Carter, they also think of Alika Smith. He and backcourt mate Smith were dubbed the “Dynamic Duo.” They led UH to a national ranking and memorable wins over No. 21-ranked Indiana and No. 2 Kansas, the latter of which is still the biggest upset in program history.
“Playing with Alika, I always wanted to make sure I got him into the game and that was going to make everything easier for Michael Robinson, Eric Ambrozich, Micah Kroeger and myself as the starting five because if he’s shooting and making shots, that’s going to leave room for Eric to post up or to hit Mike on the post up or hit Micah cutting,” Carter said. “I knew my toughness and I could instill that into him, and he knew that we had his back or I had his back. He knew that me, being where I was from, that I would go to war with him.”
UH legacy
Just a few years after leaving the program, Carter donated $100,000 to the university to start the AC Carter Scholarship Fund as a way to thank those who supported him. Then, Carter was inducted into the UH Sports Circle of Honor as part of the class of 2010.
“I really appreciated that from Hawaiʻi thinking that I’m special, but I didn’t do nothing that I wasn’t put on this Earth to do, and that was just to show fans and the University of Hawaiʻi that this is how you’re supposed to play the game and put joy and smiles on people’s faces,” he said.
Life as an NBA player, coach
After leaving UH, Carter embarked on what would become a 13-year NBA playing career that began as an undrafted free agent with Miami in 1999. His career spanned 623 games (181 starts) and included stops in Miami, San Antonio, Minnesota, Denver, New York and Toronto. Shortly after his playing days were over, Carter began his new chapter as a coach, serving as an assistant with the Austin Spurs of the NBA G League for two seasons (2013–15), the Sacramento Kings for the 2015–16 season and with the Sioux Falls Skyforce from 2016–18, before joining the Miami Heat.
But he will never forget his time in the islands, playing for Hawaiʻi’s people in the Stan Sheriff Center.
“I can’t express how much love and thanks for them for coming out to each and every one of our games—having sellouts for two years in a row, spending their hard-earned money to watch us play basketball,” Carter said. “Hawaiʻi has a special place in my heart.”
—By Marc Arakaki
