Curtis Carter, sometimes spelled Curtiss Carter (born c. 1950), is a former American professional

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appr ...

player. Nicknamed The Truck, he and fellow American Jimmy Rogers, who signed with Ármann, have been credited for revolutionizing the Icelandic basketball scene after they became the first foreign born professional players in the Icelandic Basketball League in 1975.

Early life

Carter grew up in

Kansas City The Kansas City metropolitan area is a bi-state metropolitan area anchored by Kansas City, Missouri. Its 14 counties straddle the border between the U.S. states of Missouri (9 counties) and Kansas (5 counties). With and a population of more ...

and played for Missouri Southern State University and Bishop College before being drafted by the

Phoenix Suns The Phoenix Suns are an American professional basketball team based in Phoenix, Arizona. They compete in the National Basketball Association (NBA), as a member of the league's Western Conference Pacific Division. The Suns are the only team in t ...

15th round of the 1971 NBA draft. He was released by the Suns in mid-June 1971 before playing any game.

Iceland

Carter joined KR in 1975, at the age of 25, after playing in

Mexico Mexico (Spanish: México), officially the United Mexican States, is a country in the southern portion of North America. It is bordered to the north by the United States; to the south and west by the Pacific Ocean; to the southeast by Guatema ...

and

Sweden Sweden, formally the Kingdom of Sweden,The United Nations Group of Experts on Geographical Names states that the country's formal name is the Kingdom of SwedenUNGEGN World Geographical Names, Sweden./ref> is a Nordic country located on ...

the previous two seasons, and immediately caught the attention of the fans and media with his powerful play and dunks. On November 11, 1975, in a game between KR and

Valur Valur may refer to: People * Birkir Valur Jónsson (born 1998), Icelandic football player * Björn Valur Gíslason (born 1959), Icelandic politician * Guðjón Valur Sigurðsson (born 1979), Icelandic handball player * Guðni Valur Guðnason (born ...

, he was issued a warning and later a

technical foul In basketball, a technical foul (colloquially known as a "T" or a "tech") is any infraction of the rules penalized as a foul which does not involve physical contact during the course of play between opposing players on the court, or is a foul by a ...

for repeatedly dunking the ball during the game, a move that was illegal by the rules at that time. The game officials where also worried that the bolts holding the basket to the ceiling would not be able to sustain his powerful dunks. The first meeting between Carter and Rogers on December 16 was highly anticipated and did not disappoint. It was a tightly played and ended with an 86–81 victory for Ármann. But 54 second remaining in the game, and the score tied at 81–81, Carter got into a fight with Rogers and knocked him down. The punch was caught on a picture and made the front page of

Dagblaðið ''Dagblaðið'' () was an Icelandic newspaper founded in 1975 by former employees of Vísir with Jónas Kristjánsson as its first editor. It marked a breakthrough in Icelandic newspaper publication as it was the first major newspaper that was inde ...

the day after, as well as the headline in Þjóðviljinn ''"Jimmy won the duel – The Truck won the boxing"''. Both players received a one-game suspension for the fight from the disciplinary court of the

Icelandic Basketball Federation The Icelandic Basketball Association (''Icelandic:Körfuknattleikssamband Íslands - KKÍ'') is the national governing body of basketball in Iceland and is a member of the continental association FIBA Europe and the global International Basketba ...

and where threatened with a six-game suspension for any future fights. The verdict was highly criticized, both for the short suspension and for the threat of a longer suspension that only applied to them, as referees were worried that opposing players would try to harass them and goad into a fight. In the end, Rogers and Ármann came out on the top in the league after beating KR in the last game of the season, guaranteeing them the first place and the national championship. Carter did beat Rogers for the scoring title, leading the league with 451 points, followed by Rogers with 365 points and Kristján Ágústsson with 337 points.

Achievements

* Úrvalsdeild karla scoring champion: 1976

References

External links

Profile
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realgm.com
{{DEFAULTSORT:Carter, Curtis 1950s births Living people American expatriate basketball people in Iceland American expatriate basketball people in Mexico American expatriate basketball people in Sweden American men's basketball players KR men's basketball players Úrvalsdeild karla (basketball) players