Is Vince Carter’s Career Underappreciated?

At one point in Vince Carter’s career he was in line to be the “next” Michael Jordan. Playing the same position as Jordan as well as going to UNC and dunking abilities made the comparison an easy one. In reality Vince Carter was nothing like Jordan. Carter was a great scorer in his prime, but he didn’t make his teammates better, and he would take stretches off in seasons where he would be coasting. At the end of the day Vince Carter was held at a higher pedestal than he should have been.

Vince Carter recently passed Larry Bird on the All-Time Scoring list. Passing Bird is an amazing feat, but people will probably throw that out of the window, because Vince never became Jordan or at least close to it. Carter has an amazing basketball resume, but it will never be enough. Being an 8x All-Star, Gold Medalist, Rookie of the Year, 2x All-NBA, and Slam Dunk Champion is not enough to please naysayers. To some the potential was always there, but the drive was not. I believe that is what pisses off people when it comes to V.C. I’ve always been a fan of Carter, and felt that he was criticized unfairly. I could see if Carter came in with the hype of Lebron James, but Vince was not even the best basketball player on his college basketball team at North Carolina.

Sometimes I feel that people need to look at Vince’s career and appreciate his accolades. No he isn’t Kobe Bryant, Michael Jordan, or Lebron James, but at least he didn’t turn out to be Raef LaFrentz or Larry Hughes who were drafted in the top 10 of the 1998 NBA draft with Carter. Extraordinary players like Michael, Kobe, and Lebron has cursed the good players who had great careers. I am pretty sure that many think Carter is a underachiever, but on paper his career is up there with the likes of Ray Allen, Reggie Miller, and Mitch Richmond, who all will end up in the Basketball Hall of Fame. Vince is no longer Vinsanity, but he is putting up solid numbers at the older age of 36. I guess in this world of sports if you are not on the Mt. Rushmore of your sport you appear to be a failure. If I had failed like Carter has perceived to fail in his career than that is fine with me. There are worse cases of failure in the NBA just ask Kwame Brown.