Deconstructing a myth: Vince Carter having

[SugarHill]

VC and Tmac were athletic freaks, but they lacked so much mentally. Kobe was a more athletic version of Grant Hill.

what

[Dr. Ice]

VC and Tmac were athletic freaks, but they lacked so much mentally. Kobe was a more athletic version of Grant Hill.

Tmac had the best mentality of any player of that era.

[Dragonyeuw]

Carter could jump higher than MJ
and he had a more explosive first step..hence he was branded as just a dunker in his first year in the league.

Carter had no handles he just first step blew by defenders and dunked it. Kobe could not do that on a consistent basis cause he wasn't Carter level athletic.

No handles and scoring 20 PPG. First step explosive blow by.

Look Kobe came into the league 1997 and Carter game 1999..he was more hyped than kobe in 1999 and in 2000 and 2001 EVEN though he played for a CANADIAN team no one in the USA cared about. Why is that? More athletic, more entertaining and MORE EXPLOSIVE than kobe. And he was on another level athletically than even JORDAN. Thats why there was HYPE. Kobe wasn't really athletic enough to carry the MJ torch and people weren't interested...Carter enters the scene and BAM

Ummm Kobe was very much carrying the 'next Jordan' label as early as his second season. I don't know where this 'Kobe wasn't all that athletic' thing came from, he's one of the most athletic players to play. Co-ordination, balance, agility, quickness, go look up some of his signature baseline plays and tell me this guy wasn't an incredible athlete.

And Carter was certainly not on 'another' level athletically from MJ.

[julizaver]

[QUOTE=JohnMax]https://asubstituteforwar.wordpress....dan-potential/

What I have never understood is the narrative that Vince Carter could have been Michael Jordan and just didn

[warriorfan]

I don't think anyone honestly thought VC had MJ potential. Was just peeps talking that shit

[PsychoBe]

Ummm Kobe was very much carrying the 'next Jordan' label as early as his second season. I don't know where this 'Kobe wasn't all that athletic' thing came from, he's one of the most athletic players to play. Co-ordination, balance, agility, quickness, go look up some of his signature baseline plays and tell me this guy wasn't an incredible athlete.

And Carter was certainly not on 'another' level athletically from MJ.

this. mg excelled at everything.

when he passed in the finals, he out-assisted magic johnson.

when he defended, he won dpoy and kenny smith said that coaches "wouldn't even run plays on his side of the court." he called him the deion sanders of basketball.

when he wanted to post-up, he could do it easily. kenny smith also went on to say that mj was like "the shaq of shooting guards". no one was strong enough to hold or move him.

when he wanted to, mj could flat-out score. 11 scoring titles, nothing else needs to be said.

when he wanted to, mj could shoot the three. a then nba finals record 6 three-pointers at the half, just unreal.

there is no comparison.

[Spurs5Rings2014]

OP ignoring the fact Carter was a far better perimeter shooter than Jordan with a high, unblockable release. For his career he shot 37.4% from 3 on 4 attempts per game.

If he had Jordan's desire he absolutely could have been a GOAT candidate.

[Velocirap31]

lol

Prime Carter has absolutely no argument over prime Bryant.

Yes he does. Especially early on in their careers. 2000-2002 Carter was better than 2000-2002 Kobe.

[Kobe_6/8]

Tmac had the best mentality of any player of that era.

[iamgine]

If he had the vertical explosiveness, then certainly he had the ground explosiveness. It's just he didn't know how to unlock that ability to the fullest extent.

[Jacks3]

Yes he does. Especially early on in their careers. 2000-2002 Carter was better than 2000-2002 Kobe.

Except Bryant was clearly better in both years and he wasn't even in his prime at that point. You're delusional.

[Da_Realist]

He could run, jump and dunk but could do nothing else basketball-related better than either MJ or Kobe.

[Dragonyeuw]

Yes he does. Especially early on in their careers. 2000-2002 Carter was better than 2000-2002 Kobe.

Carter was a human highlight film in a weak transitioning Eastern conference. In 2000, while he was busy having a subpar series against the Knicks in the playoffs, Kobe was busy doing this:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TcgDrzbKI1Q

this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jELrZ32qrMI

and this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7Lp5aQq4zI

At 21, playing on the biggest stage with the composure of a veteran. Defensively, no comparison. Kobe was a lockdown defender between 2000 and 2002. Now, once Shaq left and he had to carry the offense, he had to pick his spots but even then, no version of Vince defensively was close to Kobe on defense.

2001, Kobe went from budding superstar to elite top 5, breaking down the prime Spurs offense and embarrassing both Robinson and Duncan time and time again. Multiple games of 40 point double-doubles and a 30ppg playoff performance playing against the Blazers, Kings, and Spurs, all championship level competition. Vince had a stellar offensive 2001 campaign, arguably his best season asides from a few years in Jersey, but he wasn't across the board better than Kobe in 2001. The 2001 playoffs should have settled that argument, it was at that point that Kobe established himself as a 'legit' MJ successor.

In 2002, Vince was injured part of the year which was what started the whole 'half man, half injured' moniker. Kobe was still Kobe, proving a 1B compliment to Shaq and winning championships. So no, 2000 to 2002 Vince has no argument over Kobe.

[AlphaWolf24]

Vince had the potential to be greater than Kobe and arguably was in his prime, but Kobe had the work ethic and became a better player for much longer.

I really don't see the argument .....(but I guess anything can be argued)...

I remember there was chatter in 2001( Vince was amazing that year / prolly at his best) .. but Kobe was clearly better then Vince that year and every year after...


yup it began and ended in 2001....Kobe was beasting on offense and defense.....capped it with one of the greatest playoff runs ever...

and to top it off....this happened..https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DKUKgVNyOOg

even Toronto fans recognized....





I remember it was argued that Drexler was better then MJ in 1992....

similar kind of scenario

[Da_Realist]

Kobe wasn't MJ but he was miles better than Vince Carter. He was better than TMac, too. Let's not get carried away.