By Vikram Bakshi / Richmond, BC, Canada

NOTE: Fan editorials do not represent the opinions of this website. They are just designed to give fans a voice. InsideHoops.com barely edits fan editorials, they are practically posted as is.

Let me start with this. Vince Carter is a dominant player, but he's not in the top 3 "Young Superstars" of today. Now I know the Tar Heel faithful must be swearing at me and saying, "Where does he get off saying this?"

But besides dunking a ball through his legs, jumping over some French guy who is 7' feet, and putting up some pretty big stats, he hasn't done enough in my books to be in the top 3 "Young Stars" of today's game. Don't get me wrong, I agree he's one of the best 15 players in the league and the best dunker I have seen in my generation (then again, I never got to see Dr.J, Dominique, and MJ at their peaks). I am just sick and tired of seeing Vince get his "great player" rep from simply being a scorer. A lot of people are getting "prolific scorer" and "great player" mixed up these days, so I am here to clear the air. Until a player raises his team's success to another level you are not going to get my attention.

To put the best 5 players in order that are under 25 years of age, it would be: Kobe, T-Mac, Nowitzki, Pierce and then Vince. Hey I have nothing against the guy, in fact I see most of his games, but Vince has never shown he can lead a team in the big games. He has shown he can score big in the big games, but there is a difference. The Toronto team that has had some success in the last 2 seasons is a very well put together team, give credit to Glen Grunwald. Vince has never had to carry them when it counted and when it has he hasn't delivered.

So let's dissect this further. Why is Kobe better? Well it doesn't take a genius to see that this kid can do whatever you need of him at anytime. He can score, pass and rebound, but the thing that sets him apart is, he can do all of those together or one specific thing when the team needs it. I haven't seen a player who can break an opposition momentum like Kobe since Jordan did it to everyone. When a team is making a run, he will stop it himself. The truth is, Kobe could score 35 a game even with Shaq on his team, but I guess "the bigger they are the louder they cry," so Bryant has to just do what he does best and that is be the best all around player in the game today. When there is a game on the line, he comes out to play.

Now take a look at Tracy McGrady. Wow! In 160 games with the Magic, the question is: "What hasn't McGrady done to make them better?" He has carried this team while Grant Hill has been out for basically two seasons. Orlando is not a NBA team; they are a CBA team hoping to land Tim Duncan. McGrady is showing something special and if Hill comes back healthy it will make him even better. That's the thing, put Carter on the Magic and they don't even make the playoffs for the last two years. I think Glen Grunwald is whispering, "Sorry Lenny, we let the wrong one go."

Paul "The Truth" Pierce! Is there anything more terrifying on a court than seeing Pierce have the ball in his hand in the 4th quarter and having full reign from his coach to do whatever he has to win the game. Pierce scored more 4th quarter points than any other player this year and it has more to do with him just taking a lot of shots. He can post up, drive, and hit the three. He can do all these not just good, but amazingly well. Skills wise there are not many better right now. Pierce could easily be a 30 point scorer if he didn't have, "the power forward who thinks he's in the three point contest every night", in Antoine Walker. Pierce shot percentages were more than respectable, they can be improved but they are very good for someone who carries such and offensive burden.

Dirk Nowitzki is going end up being, "The best European to ever play in the NBA." It is simply amazing the things this guy can do at 7ft tall. He not only does them, he does them with ease. Although his shot is somewhat weird, he might be the toughest shooter to block in the NBA. The guy can shoots threes without effort over anyone. He runs the floor and finishes well and is improving every game in defense. Remember that Dirk averaged over 20 points on a team with 2 other guys who score between 18-21 points a game. After the Lafrentz trade when he got to move back to small/power forward, Notwitzi took his rebounding to another level. He had 76 rebounds in a 5 game stretch (15.2 rpg). Still reaching his full potential Dirk might end up being the best player of this bunch.

So anyone who thinks Vince is still the best young star today must be from Toronto. He has shown that he is truly the best dunker of his time in the league, not the best player and with the other 4 guys on this list in the league, he will never be the best.