​DAYTONA BEACH — Vince Carter is one of the only people on Earth who knows what LeBron James is up against.No one played more NBA seasons than Vinsanity’s 22 — until last season when King James sprinted past him with Year 23.LeBron dominated this summer’s conversation, too. He left the Los Angeles Lakers and signed with the Philadelphia 76ers, enhancing their title aspirations immediately. If he suits up for the entirety of his two-year contract, he’d be 43 at the end of it.Carter retired at that age.“I mean, what LeBron is doing is next level,” Carter told the Daytona Beach News-Journal.Why Vince Carter played as long as he didCarter never planned to last 22 years.“It’s funny,” he said. “When I got to the NBA, I honestly wanted to play 15 years.”His goal was to stay in the game longer than Michael Jordan. If he managed that, he figured he would’ve done something right.Then, he made it to 15 years.“And I was like, ‘What? Leave? Are you crazy?’” Carter said with a laugh. “And I said, ‘Oh, two more years.’”But Year 17 arrived, and he felt the same way. Why quit? He still enjoyed basketball, and he remained effective.Carter extended his timeline two more years.After reaching 19 seasons, he took it year by year, going all the way past his 43rd birthday to 22 campaigns. He assumed one of two things would force him to stop.“Either, one, I’m not getting that phone call anymore, or two, my body’s breaking down and it’s just what it was,” Carter said. “I wanted to play, and that was the thing.”Vince Carter sacrificed to be effective NBA player after age 40Carter had just finished listing the numerous challenges of being a 43-year-old trying to keep up with 23-year-olds when it came time to ask him a dumb question.Did anything get easier as he got older?“Easier?” he said with another chuckle.Yep.“I’d be able to see the game, pick up on things and just to help others,” he said. “Just easy to find my spots in the offense. I was a smart guy. I didn’t jump higher or run faster than a lot of guys. It was easier because I didn’t have to guard all the guards. I was guarding some big men now. That was easy because a lot of these guys were two or three inches taller than me and probably 40, 50 pounds bigger than me.“But I was just trying to outsmart these guys. But that was the NBA life. I’m in it. It’s supposed to be difficult. You’re supposed to go through tough times. I knew that. And I also knew at 40 I’m going to have rough days.”The objective was trying to limit those days — or find ways to push through them.So what were those hurdles?“Obviously staying healthy,” Carter said. “But loving it and prioritizing what’s important. For me, I had to sacrifice time, hanging out with guys. I couldn’t go hang out, have a drink and then talk about being at practice the next day. Those are things I had to sacrifice.“… I have to be in the gym early to get started and make sur