Vince Carter: bench strength

Vince Carter

I recently saw that Vince Carter put up 20 points for the Dallas Mavericks coming off the bench. Interesting. I also recall seeing him literally jump over an opponent (Frédéric Weis) in the 2000 Olympics. And there's a whole YouTube channel showing just his dunks and game winners. So why did the team on which he was rookie of the year him want to get rid of him so badly? And why wouldn't such a massively talented player be with one club for the duration? And why traded so often? Well, the answer has something to do with leadership, accountability and winning.

Charles Oakley

Carter took the Toronto Raptors to the playoffs three straight years, including their most successful season, and most successful playoffs, 2001. That year, the Raptors had a few veterans on a young roster, the most important being Charles Oakley. In the playoffs in 2001, after losing a game, Vince Carter when asked about the loss, responded with something to the effect of "we win as a team and we lose as a team." Afterwards, Charles Oakley refused to agree with the assessment, saying, in effect, no, Vince Carter is the leader of this team, and he has to lead the team to victory. In fact, he was throwing Carter under the bus, and rightly so. A leader has to take charge, and-- I don't know-- LEAD. Oakley's comments had the desired effect- an angry Carter led his team to victory, and a good playoff run. But what did that get Oakley? He was gone the following year, Vince and his friends were signed to long-term deals. And what happened to Carter's new found leadership? Dead in the water- the Raptors never again attained the heights of 2001. Worse, by 2005, they had to dump him-- the man was just not a leader; he never made players around him better, and he was never a winner. After the trade, TSN (Canadian equivalent of ESPN) showed a video montage of Vince rolling on the hard-court grimacing holding his knee, grimacing holding his ankle, grimacing holding his elbow, grimacing holding his hangnail (or whatever)-- there were, like 30 of these! Truly an unfortunate way to remember such a talented player.

Now he's bench strength - probably a fitting ending to a fantastic career that almost was. With a career filled with little more than highlight reel moments, he may make it to the hall of fame when he retires, but soon after that he will be forgotten. You see, only leaders and winners are remembered.