Vince Carter and Antawn Jamison played three seasons together at the University of North Carolina. They made two Final Fours and won 83 games. They were both All-Americans.

Despite all of that, when Carter and Jamison are mentioned together, the moment that perhaps resonates most with basketball fans happened on the night of the 1998 NBA Draft. Jamison was selected by the Raptors at No. 4 and Carter went to the Warriors at No. 5. The two were immediately dealt for each other (and the Raptors received cash, as well).

How immediate was the trade? Jamison actually knew about the deal before Carter was officially selected. When Carter was drfated, Jamison tried to deliver the news to Carter, but Vinsanity's mind was too jumbled to register what was happening.

It makes for a good story:

"He seemed to know something about it," Carter says. "I didn't know much about it. I mean, we knew there were talks or whatever, but the weird thing about it is I had no idea what was going on. So when Antawn got drafted at four, it was weird because he never worked out for them, and I did, of course. And then the trade happened. Once he got off the stage, his agent kind of caught him up to speed. I'm standing out here, kind of not knowing what's going on. David Stern says, 'Hey, there's about to be a trade. Wait one second right here,' not knowing it was gonna be me. He didn't tell me. I wish he would've. I'd have been prepared. I probably had the look of, not really shame, but I had that surprised look like, 'Oh my gosh,' on stage, sitting back there by myself.  But as I was walking up and we were thinking about it, Antawn was at the bottom of the steps, and he was trying to say something to me, but there was a lot going on. You get drafted, you got your hat on, you see all the cameras, you see David Stern. So, this moment that you've always been waiting for is happening and he's trying to say something to me. Now, I know he said he was telling me, 'We're getting traded for each other,' I'm like, 'I didn’t know that.' It was weird. It was fun.

"I went from West Coast to East Coast in a matter of three minutes."


And just like that, Carter and Jamison headed for different ends of the country. Over the next 19 seasons, they would accumulate ten All-Star Game appearances, a Rookie of the Year, a Sixth Man of the Year, a Slam Dunk Contest title, a Teammate of the Year and two All-NBA Team nods. Jamison retired in 2014, but Carter continues to trudge on, currently a free agent looking for work (and desired by employers) at age 40.

But it all started on that one confusing night in 1998.

"We were introduced to the business of basketball immediately, and I began to understand what this NBA is about," Carter remembers. "It's not about just basketball. It's a business side, as well."

Speaking of the business side, Carter spoke to ThePostGame Thursday morning in NYC, where he was working with Verizon. During the NBA Draft at Barclays Center Verizon customers with unlimited plans had the opportunity to visit the brand's booth and meet Carter and get a phone case made out of NBA basketballs. Fans could also have the same experience by switching to Verizon or upgrading on the spot.

-- Follow Jeff Eisenband on Twitter @JeffEisenband. Like Jeff Eisenband on Facebook.