Vince Carter half-immortal, half-amazing
Everybody remembers Vince Carter at his peak. Vinsanity wasn’t just a nickname, but a state of being that Carter could jump into at any moment, leaving everybody else as witnesses to his greatness. We saw it when he obliterated the dunk contest, produced giant scoring outbursts, and led the Toronto Raptors to heights they had never reached before. An argument can be made that Carter is the reason basketball still exists in Canada today, but everybody already knows that story.
The peak of Vince Carter has been discussed, analyzed, and written about to the ends of the internet. A quick google search will give anybody interested in Carter thousands of ways to catch up, or simply reminisce, about what he used to be. It’s what happened after Carter’s peak that has surprisingly flown under the radar for a future Hall-of-Famer.
When exactly Carter’s peak ended can be debated, but most would agree it was shortly after the Nets traded him to the Orlando Magic. Carter started on an eventual Eastern Conference Finals team, but his role on that team was severely reduced compared to what he had been previously. This was the first time since his rookie season he didn’t average 20 points and he averaged the least minutes of his career at that point. He only made it to December the next season before being traded yet again, but the damage had been done. Carter was no longer Vinsanity. He was just another guy.
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It’s around this time that national interest in Carter fell off. Fans still knew who he was, and every once in awhile he’d do something cool, but he just wasn’t that guy that had to be watched every single night anymore. He didn’t rise up to throw down thunderous dunks, or show the ability to drop 50 points on any given night. He just went out there, spotted up for 3-pointers, and played some solid defense. Compared to what he had been, it was all kind of boring.
Historically, players that rely on their athleticism and individual talent the way Carter did early in his career are much more well known for flaming out in spectacular fashion. Think of Allen Iverson or Kobe Bryant, guys that refused to accept their body’s decline and played like they were still the same star they always were to the very end of their careers. Carter didn’t become that. As his athleticism fell he simply moved into the new role that worked for him. He took more 3-pointers, played team defense, and found a way to be a useful player well into the late stages of his career.
The evolution of Carter is what’s so fascinating about his twilight years. He just turned 40 yesterday and is still an everyday rotation player on a playoff team. Yes, he’s always been a good shooter but that just doesn’t happen with former stars that played with the level of athleticism he showed. It’s a pleasant surprise when the story with former stars are usually a sad one.
Currently, Carter is averaging 23 minutes a game while shooting 34 percent from 3-point range as he plays for the Memphis Grizzlies. He plays okay defense and does what is asked of him which is all Memphis needs. Before that he was 3-and-D man off the bench for the Dallas Mavericks a few years, and shot lights out from 3-point range throughout that tenure. Carter is a regular staple at Orlando Summer League during the offseason, spending time on the Grizzlies bench as a coach one year, and doing color commentary for NBA TV last year. He seems to be adjusting to the late stages of his career nicely and is preparing for what he does after he retires. A personality like his would do well in the booth, but coaching may be in his future with the amount of experience he’s gained as a player over almost two decades of playing.
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These days, Carter is one of those guys that surprises long time fans that he’s still in the league. He’s relatively unnoticed, then he something that reminds everybody that there’s still a little bit of Vinsanity in him. The day before he turned 40, he did this.
A nice little flashback to what he used to be.