Q. As long as you want to participate in this event, is this a battle for second place?

CARTER: I don't know. Honestly, right now -- what happens next year, I could lose. I could lose for the next three years. But right now I have won. And I have this one championship under my belt, and next year, you never know.

Q. Vince, would you say that given the performances in this contest, will this be remembered as one of the great dunk contests of all time?

CARTER: I hope so, because I will, definitely. You just look down the list and you just look at what these guys have done in games, Larry Hughes on down to Stackhouse, Tracy, Ricky Davis, Steve and myself. It's unbelievable. It's unbelievable. I can't let it sink in yet, it's having trouble. It's still hard for me to believe that I was just in the NBA dunk contest. I remember back in the days me and my friends used to tape them and watch them all, just watch them over and over again.

Q. Vince, you've often said you don't want to be known as just a dunker, is there any way you can escape that?

CARTER: This doesn't help. I want to be considered a dunker in games.

Q. My second question is: What do you think Charles Oakley would say?

CARTER: I don't want to be considered a dunker when the game comes. I don't know what Oak is going to say, I don't know. I'm definitely going to call him. I hope he was watching.

Q. You've seen dunks -- is it easier to dunk on someone, to dunk in front of this many people?

CARTER: I don't know, when I stepped on court, I didn't have any idea in the first round what I was going to do. The one between the legs, when Tracy bounced it, I made that up right before. It was my -- I was just doing it off of instinct. And the second round, I wanted to do some quality dunks, but that was for sure.

Q. On the last dunk, you had Julius Erving here tonight watching, was the last one to take off from the foul line like he did in '84?

CARTER: Yeah. (Laughter).

Q. Did you feel good about it or have you practiced that?

CARTER: That was the first time I tried that, two-hand dunk. I wasn't too happy with it, but I'll take it. I wish I could have tried it again, I think I'd have had a better second shot.

Q. Vince, which was your favorite dunk and which was the hardest one for you?

CARTER: The hardest one, probably the one, the assist that Tracy did. That was probably by far the hardest, because you have to have a good bounce, but you have to catch the ball and be able to put it between your legs, and at the same time still be able to make the dunk. So that was probably my favorite right now. I thought of it right before.

Q. Tracy and other people have talked about how creative you are, but where does that come from? Do you think about it, dream about it?

CARTER: Believe it or not, I had a dream about that dunk a couple of nights ago, I think the Thursday night I got here. And I think also a guy tried it in the magazine. I saw it in a magazine that I went through, and I'd like to try it. But somebody has done that, so let's try it with a bounce. There you go.

Q. The one between your legs?

CARTER: Right, the one Tracy bounced for me.

Q. At one dunk, you looked up in the stands, was that your mom?

CARTER: Always. Always. She's here, and I know she's proud. And I have to enjoy this All-Star Weekend, because I know she's going to take it home. It was for her, and the people of Daytona (Florida).

Q. I'm wondering about the one dunk that you did when you put your elbow through? It was very innovative.

CARTER: I was in Seattle, and Gary Payton gave it to me. I tried it then. I was trying to do dunks tonight that I've never even seen guys try, or at least never seen done before or heard, heard of being done. And it was different. It was different. I didn't know how the judges would react to it, because it's a different dunk, and I think it gave them a different pace. They've never seen anybody try to put their arm in the rim.

Q. How much do you think you have to do to bring this contest back?

CARTER: I don't know. From what I can hear and all the predictions, I think I had a lot. It looked like a packed house tonight, I really couldn't tell. I'm glad I could be a part of it. I think they also came to see the rest of the competition, also.

Q. Vince, the one you dreamed about was the one you put through your legs, and did you make that in the dream?

CARTER: Of course (laughter). Of course. If I didn't make it, I wouldn't try it. I had a dream about the top of the key, and I didn't make it; so I didn't try that one.

Q. Vince, things are happening pretty fast for you. Where does tonight rank in your goals, and all your achievements?

CARTER: Oh, man, this -- right now this is No. 1. We'll see what happens tomorrow. It just took the place of actually making it to the All-Star Game. That's a great feeling. It's something I've been doing for a long time. I've been in a few dunk contests in my young career as a basketball player. And now I do it on a professional level. I do it with some of the best leapers in the world. I'm sure there are others out there. But today is my day.

Q. What's the next goal?

CARTER: Olympics, MVP maybe in the All-Star Game, one year. I'm not saying this year, but hopefully one year.

Q. You don't seem entirely comfortable with comparisons to Michael. Does it strike you, though, that you keep doing things that he did?

CARTER: Yeah. I can't get away from it. And this didn't help being in the dunk contest. But I just play. I just continue to do the things that I know I can do. And like tonight, this is just something I enjoy doing. Like I say, I think that's one of the my qualities. I try not to practice the dunks, and see how good I can do off the fly, just right there and right at the spur of the moment. And most of the dunks that you saw tonight were on the spur of the moment.

Q. Have you measured your leap, your jump?

CARTER: I don't like to do that. That's something I try to stay away from is how high I jump. I just work on persistence, and just perfection. I want to go for perfection.

Q. You started off with a bang with a 50. Did you think about what you wanted to start off with?

CARTER: I wanted my first dunk -- my approach, I think, to this contest was probably a little different maybe than some of the other guys, I don't know. Maybe some of the guys wanted to just get one under their belt. Me, I wanted to come out with a bang and just get that first one out of the way, and hopefully, everything else would fall into place. I was going for a 50 all night. But I have to have a talk with Kenny, who shortchanged me on one.

Q. Vince, do you remember how old you were when you dunked the first time and where you were and just how you felt afterward?

CARTER: I think I was in about the 6th grade, summer of the 6th and 7th grade I first dunked. And how I felt? I felt probably like I feel now, excited, just accomplished something that not many people get to accomplish, and that's winning the slam dunk championship.

Q. Vince, what's more of a thrill, dunking on someone during a game or something like this?

CARTER: Oh, man -- both. I enjoy both. I'm shying away from dunking on people nowadays, because when you try it the second time, it doesn't work, you pay for it and I've learned that. They both give me great pleasure. But right now, it's winning this contest is probably No. 1.

Q. Vince, what is the greatest dunk you've seen, was it Erving's dunk or was there one that you rank as the greatest you've seen?

CARTER: I don't know what the greatest dunk is. It's hard. There's so many dunks that I've been impressed with, it's hard to really say one.