You don’t expect things like this – at least you don’t expect them anymore. You especially don’t expect them after the season we’ve seen from Vince Carter.
There are two different directions I wanted to take this piece as I discuss the night Vince Carter turned back the clock/heart and decided to go Nova (hence the photo above). I’m conflicted on what I saw because we all have the same perception of Vince Carter. He’s the definition of potential. He’s also the definition of wasted potential. I was never of the mindset that Vince could be the new Jordan. There were many things about him that seemed to be lacking. But he had more ability in him than most could ever imagine so when we saw him sputter after nights in which he would excel, we became frustrated and resentful that he would refuse to do the things we wanted to do.
With Vince it was always “if only he would…” because we hoped he would one day grasp his potential, hold onto it like a golden ticket and prance through the streets of the basketball world as he sings, “I’ve got the gollllllden tiiiiiicket!”
But we never really got that from him past the first couple of seasons. Vince was a guy that just didn’t want it and with his tumultuous time in Toronto, we gave him the benefit of the doubt until we were so insulted by his lack of heart that we wanted to destroy him for it. When he moved to New Jersey, we were hopeful a change of scenery would bring out the best in him. And it did on occasion. However, Vince still didn’t want to be that guy. He was content going out there, playing basketball a certain way and collecting his paycheck.
Now that he’s on Orlando (a team that retooled in a risky way after making the NBA Finals last year), we’ve been waiting for him to give this kind of effort. He’s been all over the map for the Magic this season as they’ve waited for him to bring the thunder consistently. Nobody really expects him to do it flair-filled style of dunks and scores around the basket. We’ve accepted the fact that he attacks the basket with three-pointers and long-range shots over high-flying acts of absurdity. But what you’ve wanted out of him is the effort to take this team to the next level, even if it’s just by being a competent basketball player that doesn’t hijack possessions and alienate his teammates with the way he affects games (positively or negatively).
When he scores 48 points during a nationally televised game on just 27 shot attempts, you start to hope that maybe this is it. Maybe this is when he gets locked in with his Magic teammates and finds the extra gear to put them back into the Finals and in a better position to win the whole damn thing. After all, that’s why they brought him in there and let Hedo walk for maple syrup covered pizza.
Part of you is watching and thinking, “yep, this is exactly what this team needs right now.“ They need a go-to guy that can turn a good half into a half that makes you consider forgiving the past decade of malaise. And hopefully in a couple of games, you won’t feel sheepish and naïve for thinking these kinds of thoughts.
Historically, Vince will make you reconsider your hope – which brings me to the other angle of this 48-point performance. Vince flat out knows how to depress a basketball nerd like myself.
As I watched Vince lead the Magic from a 17-point deficit to a six-point win, I couldn’t help but resent him for this performance. To me, Andre Miller’s 52-point outburst the other day was far more probable than this 48-point game from Vince. Not because I think Andre Miller is a better basketball player or a better scorer. I would never be so obtuse to think something like that to be true. But it seemed more probable to me because I didn’t think Vince Carter had the effort left in him. To score 34 points in the second half of a ball game when his team REALLY needed it seemed so far-fetched to me that a player in the year 2010 who can’t move laterally, can’t shoot threes and basically throws up a 1954-style set shot was more likely to drop around 50 points in a ball game.
This depresses you because of the way he did it. He wasn’t just hoisting up threes and long twos because he was afraid to make contact. He attacked the basket and attacked it often. By my count, he attempted a shot around the basket or in the key 12 times and made 10 of them against the Hornets (he had attempted five shots around the basket more than five times in a game just nine times this season). Granted, he was being guarded by Morris Peterson. I didn’t remember that Mo Pete was even in the NBA up until a week ago and basketball is practically a religion to me. Yet, he still did it.
And it’s not like he was soaring through the air. His steps on the court are the NBA equivalent of intensive labor. He looks out of shape and out of breath most of the time. He moves like one of the old guys at your local gym or YMCA. All of this makes it even more frustrating that he was able to put up a game like this. I was resigned to the fact that Vince Carter simply didn’t have it anymore and didn’t want to have it. I was actually okay with that. Instead, he tried and he tried hard and it worked to the tune of 48 dramatically efficient points. How does that happen?
Ultimately, I still feel cheated by Vince Carter and his career with nights like this reminding me just of that when I thought it was behind me. Did Vince owe the fans and me a different story arc to his career? Not really. Maybe you could argue he owed it to himself but if he’s happy fading into “what could have been” obscurity then that’s on him.
I just could have done without the diabolical casualness of his career. And I could have done without the 48-point reminder that he was an Allen Iverson heart away from burning this place to the ground.
I just didn’t expect this tonight.
Rate this post!
I lived in Toronto from 1999-2008 and I was a witness to Vinsanity from it’s early beginnings to it’s anti-climactic ending. Vince was a God in Toronto, people seriously thought he was the second coming of MJ. I’m not gonna lie I was also a bit caught up in it. And around the height of his popularity, there were many arguments over who the best player in the NBA, Vince or Kobe. From the dunk contest to the Nike Shox Commercials, Vince was on top of the world. Things just went downhill from when he missed that last shot against the Sixers in the second round of the playoffs. His career just fizzled away and he was merely an afterthought. And now people just loath him in Toronto. The bigger they are the hard they fall. “He’s also the definition of wasted potential” Couldn’t agree with you more.
Wow, we have a bunch of VC apologists here, huh? After reading the entire article I think he pretty much nailed it. VC could have been one of the 10 best basketball players ever. This year he has looked like a shell of his former self. He rarely dunks. He rarely goes into the lane. When he does, because he can’t jump, he takes some weird circus shot that ends up going over the backboard or clanging off the rim. In Jan. he had the worst shooting slump of his career. It looked like he was going to become Vince Carter’s expiring contract next year. And then boom he played one game with heart and passion and we got to see what could have been. Unfortunately we have only seen that once in 50 some odd games as a Magic player and I will not be holding my breath in hope of seeing it again soon. The writer is correct in that basketball is not VC’s passion like it is to Kobe or was to Mike. VC is probably a much more balanced person as a whole. He is probably happier than either of those two guys ever will be (save for when they win a championship and only then for about 24 hours). I would much rather have VC for a friend than either of those two, but being a decent guy with incredible basketball talents just isn’t quite enough to win a championship or be one of the greatest players ever. I think VC is okay with that, although as a Magic fan I hope he tries real hard to change that perception over the next 5 months.
i must say this is the best description of his carrier i have read. i have watched vc since his nba debut and been a fan from that first game….often trying to justify his lack of desire and will to be a player he should have been and yet going crazy when he decides to show up on the court and puts out numbers like this…still i think that this last part sums it up best..he was an allen iverson heart away from dominating this game for the past 10 years
What you have just said, is one of the most insanely, idiotic things I have ever heard. At no point in your rambling, incoherent response were you even close to anything that could be considered a rationale thought. Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it. I award you no points and may God have mercy on your soul
To think what AI could have done with the body and athleticism of Carter…
“he was an Allen Iverson heart away from burning this place to the ground.”
possibly my favourite basketball quote ever
[...] is making fun of Vince Carter. So when VC drops 47 on national television, naturally it warrants this post. But it probably warrants a little something extra from us as well, which is where I come in. I [...]
I agree with Alex… You guys are really stupid. VC is coming to a new team and learning a whole new way the game is played. Vince is doing what he does, put up shots. Maybe what you haters should remember it’s a team that wins games and not a player. You can only ride a guy so much (al-la King James) and expect him to do it for you night in and night out. The Magic are in a good position because they have several guys that can go on spurts so they don’t have to depend on just one guy. I wish everyone would just lay off VC and the Magic. Everyone was talking last year about they didn’t have what it takes to complete but they ended up in the Finals. So do us TRUE fans/supports a favor and shut the hell up. Heck even Doc Rivers knows who is better and he won the Championship. What have you won? I thought so… If it isn’t VC it’s DH so what’s new. We will see who is sitting @ home in May…
“Everyone in this room is now dumber for having listened to it.”
I suggest that that you just speak for yourself. The only stupid people here are those who have not heard of writing styles using irony and yet have the nerve to comment like a college professor on a freshman’s written piece. “Insanely idiotic”, rambling incoherent”, “rational thought”- LOL!!!! The writer did not mean to disparage VC’s talents but to awaken us of the “what might have been” in VC’s career.
[...] Vous ne vous attendez pas des choses comme cela – à moins que vous ne vous attendez pas plus. Vous ne vous attendez surtout pas après la saison, nous avons vu de Vince Carter. Il ya deux directions différentes que je voulais prendre ce morceau comme je l'explique dans la nuit Vince Carter a fait reculer le / coeur et décida d'aller en Nouvelle (d'où le photo ci-dessus). Je suis en conflit sur ce que j'ai vu parce que nous avons tous la même perception de Vince Carter. Il est la définition du potentiel. Il a également la définition du potentiel gaspillé. Je n'ai jamais été de la mentalité que Vince pourrait être le nouveau Jourdain. Il y avait beaucoup de choses sur lui qui semblait faire défaut. Mais il avait une plus grande capacité en lui que la plupart ne pouvait jamais imaginer ainsi quand on le vit par pulvérisation après des nuits où il excella, nous sommes devenus frustrés et amers qu'il refuserait de faire les choses que nous voulions faire. … URL article original: http://www.hardwoodparoxysm.com/2010/02/09/vince-carter-went-nova-sigh/ [...]