Did Vince Carter have more potential then kobe?

[lxlHoTsAuSelxl]

Another one of those IF/BUT/HOW/MAYBE threads but to answer your question, yes.
How about IF Kobe had Lebron's Body?!?Or the other way around??

[DKLaker]

Did he?


6'6 230
Long arms with big hands
Extreme vertical
Unreal Body control
Superb coordination


What if he had kobe's work ethic?

What if Shaq had Kobe's work ethic.....OMG!!!!!! They'd have to ban him from the NBA!!!!!

[jlitt]

One thing I always saw that not many people mention is that Kobe had much/has much better handles than Carter.

I truly believe it prevented him from taking people to the rim one on one as much as people demanded him too. His athleticism helped, but if he had the handles of Kobe, he would have been unstoppable.

You are dead on with this assessment. One thing that truly separates Kobe and Michael from other athletic and talented perimeter players is their ball handling ability. If you look at igoudala you see the same t hing. A talented wing player whose lack of ball handling limits his ability to drive. If vince had this he would have been much better, but kobe had the total package. mental part, physical, defense offense the whole game.

[VeeCee15]

VC is a MUCH MUCH MUCH more physically gifted athlete than Kobe Bryant.

Much more explosive, much higher vertical, much better first step, much
bigger hands.

That's why when VC was first in the league...everyone started to HYPE VC
and move away from Kobe (even though VC was in a market no one cared about..Toronto).
Kobe just wasn't spectacular relatively speaking no matter how much LA and LA fans hyped him.

[eliteballer]

LOL...VC was like a slug compared to Kobe. Kobe always had a couple of steps on him terms of speed. Better body control, coordination, agility. As comparable ages Kobe was always better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGxX80NHuRs&fmt=35

[VeeCee15]

Kobe was never even an ELITE athlete in the league in his prime.

Better speed and body control? VC is the master of body control see his 360 layups in traffic?

VC was an ELITE once in a generation athlete..Kobe is above average.

[imdaman99]

Kobe was never even an ELITE athlete in the league in his prime.

Better speed and body control? VC is the master of body control see his 360 layups in traffic?

VC was an ELITE once in a generation athlete..Kobe is above average.

Do you like repeating yourself?

Did VC have more potential? Maybe. But we'll never know because VC never amounted to anything more than a dunk machine.

[wang4three]

No, he didn't.

[VCMVP1551]

LOL...VC was like a slug compared to Kobe. Kobe always had a couple of steps on him terms of speed. Better body control, coordination, agility. As comparable ages Kobe was always better.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aGxX80NHuRs&fmt=35

Vince and Kobe were pretty close as players from about 1999-2002.

[plat1numX]

VC still has time to prove himself now that he is on a contender.

[SLY]

Kobe bryant was always better then Vince

The question was not who is better dumb sh!t !!!!

[majorhops]

Yeah he did.
Now put Kobe in VCs body with big hands & long arms?
O lawd.

[andgar923]

Wow, great work not answering the question. Plus, you're wrong.

If you're looking year by year Vince was the better player in the 99-00 season. I know that's being nit-picky, but just sayin' - Kobe hasn't always been better than Vince. It was debatable up until about 01-02, that's when Kobe truly leap frogged him and put Vince out of the discussion IMO.

Vince was also much better as a rookie and second year player, but that has more to do with Kobe coming straight from high school. Can't really expect an 18 year old to come out like a 22 year old.

Anyways, to answer the question - YES I think Vince had more potential than Kobe. Kobe maximized his potential. Hell, he may have surpassed it. I'm not sure anyone thought he'd have a chance to go down as a top 10 player of all time like he may well do now when he was drafted. Vince? It was clear he had potential to be an all time great. He never reached it though.

I remember an interview VC did with Arnie Spagnier and VC said he was better than Kobe.

Alot of players back then thought they were better than Kobe, and used to say Kobe was successful because he had Shaq, Phil and the Triangle.

And YES... to echo the common sentiment, VC had more potential. Like many mentioned, he lacked the will and drive to be the greatest. Most players are content at being all stars, Kobe wanted to be better than MJ. That is his strength and weakness, but eventually what made him better than his peers.

And I think players like Bron and Wade are smart enough to learn from the other player's mistakes including Kobe's. So their paving their own road to greatness.

[indiefan23]

Much much more potential. The difference was he didn't have the same mentality as Kobe. He didn't have that same drive. Kobe set a pretty unattainable goal for himself (to be better than Jordan) and I think having that in the back of his mind pushed him harder.

Ya know, I'm not sure about that. Something no one is mentioning here is that Kobe started off in the NBA as a great cuz he was young, but not that fantastic player. His shot selection was weak and he had trouble taking over games.

Then you take Vince. He got to the NBA and was great right away. The Pro game came so much easier to Vince then it did to Kobe. People always talk about intangibles like 'drive' and 'work ethic' but never talk about why those things develop. Kobe had to get good. Vince was good. I think its 'much' harder to develop a strong work ethic when you never truly have to work to be elite. The same can be said for Shaq. He realized maybe 75% of his potential because at 75% he was still one of the most dominant players in the game.

Challenge produces effort. Its why getting cut from his HS basketball team was the turning point in the GOAT's hoop career. Both Vince and Shaq were way too good to be challenged.

And just for the record, if Vince played with either of the Shaq/Pau super teams that Kobe did, do you really think so many people would be so down on Vince? People need to stop using titles to evaluate players. The best bigs that Vince has 'ever' played with were the rookie Chris Bosh, the rookie Brook Lopez, the injured past prime Antonio Davis and the injured Nenad Cristic. That's got more to do with him not winning a title and being hyped up then his talent, drive or anything else.

[D-Rose]

Ya know, I'm not sure about that. Something no one is mentioning here is that Kobe started off in the NBA as a great cuz he was young, but not that fantastic player. His shot selection was weak and he had trouble taking over games.

Then you take Vince. He got to the NBA and was great right away. The Pro game came so much easier to Vince then it did to Kobe. People always talk about intangibles like 'drive' and 'work ethic' but never talk about why those things develop. Kobe had to get good. Vince was good. I think its 'much' harder to develop a strong work ethic when you never truly have to work to be elite. The same can be said for Shaq. He realized maybe 75% of his potential because at 75% he was still one of the most dominant players in the game.

Challenge produces effort. Its why getting cut from his HS basketball team was the turning point in the GOAT's hoop career. Both Vince and Shaq were way too good to be challenged.

And just for the record, if Vince played with either of the Shaq/Pau super teams that Kobe did, do you really think so many people would be so down on Vince? People need to stop using titles to evaluate players. The best bigs that Vince has 'ever' played with were the rookie Chris Bosh, the rookie Brook Lopez, the injured past prime Antonio Davis and the injured Nenad Cristic. That's got more to do with him not winning a title and being hyped up then his talent, drive or anything else.

I agree he's never been on teams as good as Kobe's teams, until perhaps now.

Though, if you put Kobe on 05'-07' Nets with Kidd and Jefferson, that's more than 2nd round.