Paul Carter

Paul Mazique Carter (born June 2, 1987) is an American former professional basketball player. He played college basketball for the Minnesota Golden Gophers and UIC Flames.

Early life and high school career Carter was born on June 2, 1987, in Los Angeles, California. His father, Ron, played two seasons in the National Basketball Association (NBA) for the Los Angeles Lakers and Indiana Pacers. Carter played high school basketball in Los Angeles until he relocated to New Orleans, Louisiana, for his senior season. When Hurricane Katrina hit, he moved again to Arkansas and graduated from Mills High School in Little Rock. Carter was initially academically ineligible to transfer to Minnesota and practiced alone on the West Plains campus until he passed additional classes prior to the 2008–09 season. Carter averaged 6.3 points and 3.7 rebounds per game in his junior season.

On May 6, 2010, the UIC Flames announced that Carter had transferred to the program. UIC were granted a hardship waiver that made Carter immediately eligible for the 2010–11 season.

Carter began his career in Cyprus with Proteas EKA AEL. On December 13, 2011, he signed with the Utah Jazz. Jazz head coach Tyrone Corbin considered Carter to be a "tremendous athlete" and wanted to experiment with him as a small forward instead of his natural power forward. On December 28, 2011, Carter signed with the Idaho Stampede of the NBA D-League. He was waived by the Stampede for personal reasons on March 11, 2012, but was reacquired three days later. Carter averaged 10.8 points and 5.4 rebounds in 34 games played.

Carter returned to the Stampede for the 2012–13 season. His role dwindled as he averaged 3.0 points and 2.7 rebounds in nine games.

Carter signed with Elitzur Ashkelon of the Liga Leumit in January 2014. He averaged 15.1 points and 7.5 rebounds in eight games played until his departure in February 2014.

Carter played for Korikobrat during the 2014–15 season and led the league in rebounds per game with 12.5. He also ranked second in points per game with 19.6. He averaged 10.2 points and 4.9 rebounds per game. On December 28, 2016, Carter signed with the New Zealand Breakers of the Australian National Basketball League as an injury replacement for Corey Webster. The move united him with good friend Akil Mitchell, who had encouraged Carter to play in New Zealand. At the conclusion of the NBL season, he signed with Hyeres-Toulon of the LNB Pro A on February 26, 2017. He left the team to join VEF Rīga in February 2018.

Carter signed with Limburg United of the Pro Basketball League on June 23, 2018. Carter averaged 14.5 points and 6.4 rebounds per game. Chamond-Basket expressed a desire to resign Carter for the 2020–21 season but were concerned about quarantine issues related to the COVID-19 pandemic as he travelled between France and the United States.