Vince Carter Practiced What He Preached At 29-Years Old

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In our day to day lives I’m sure that some of us are awesome at giving advice but won’t take it. I’m sure that many of us in whatever we do in life want to be the superstar or the center of attention in whatever our occupation happens to be. It’s not sexy to sacrifice or diminish your role for the greater good of the company or in the case of Vince Carter the greater good of the Dallas Mavericks franchise. Here is a guy who has done a lot in the NBA from all-star games, rookie of the year, slam dunk contests you name it he and Carter has probably done it.

This guy was once the face of a franchise and was the guy kids emulated on black tops across america, but like any normal human being father time caught up and his athleticism declined. That didn’t mean he couldn’t still be an x-factor for a team in a different role, so he accepted where he is at now in his career physically and decided to come off the bench for Rick Carlisle and give the Mavericks a scoring punch that most teams don’t have the luxury of. At 37-years old he produced at a high level and helped the Mavericks nearly knock off the San Antonio Spurs who are playing in the NBA Finals. His performance this year took me back to something he said in the midst of his prime years with the New Jersey Nets when he spoke on Kobe Bryant’s 81-point performance in January of 2006. Down below is what he said verbatim.

“The only bad thing about it is that younger kids, whose minds are easily warped, are going to think, ‘Ohhh! I am going to go out there and do it instead of (honoring) the team concept first. That is what is missing in the game, guys understanding how to play as a team. I think it is great for (the NBA): They want scoring, they want ratings, and you are going to get that. You are definitely going to get them now with the amount of 50-point games, 60-plus games. I just hope that kids and young guys understand that (only) special guys can do that. Yeah, the (other Lakers) were trying to get Kobe the ball, they wanted to see a special night. But they all know their roles. Guys understanding their roles is probably the hardest thing to accept in the NBA right now. Everybody wants to prove they are a professional, wants to be a star in this league. You can still become a star in your own right if you just play your role.

He uttered these words at a time where his vertical leap was still elite and he was all over sportcenter’s top ten plays catching alley oops from Jason Kidd. He got killed for his comments back then by the very pro-Kobe media, but I liked that someone of his stature and influence stated something so right and factual about the game of basketball. You can still be a star if you just play you’re role, just look at guys like Bruce Bowen, Robert Horry and Jamal Crawford. Those guys are stars because they play their roles to perfection. Now it’s one thing to say it but to actually age and have your athletic ability decline but still star by just playing your role is another. What Vince Carter said as 29-year old star he lived out as a 37-year old veteran.

In the regular season his stats looked like this- 11.9 points, 2.6 assits, 3.5 rebounds on 39.4% 3-point shooting in 24.4 minutes per game. His scoring punch off the bench allowed the Mavericks to rank 2nd in the NBA in three-point shooting at 38.3% as they ranked behind only the Spurs at 39.6% from behind the arc. His production placed him right in the thick of the 6th man of the year race and had he won the award it would have made him the oldest player in NBA history as I chronicled in my article on his 6th man of the year chances (click here). He ultimately finished in 6th receiving only one first place vote finishing behind the likes of Taj Gibson, Reggie Jackson and Jamal Crawford. The fact of the matter is not many players can say they made a smooth transition from superstar to 6th man and he did.

I got a chance to spend some time around this years Mavericks team and the word I would use to describe everyone from top to bottom is “Professional”. Everyone in that practice facility knew how to get the job done in this league and held each other accountable day in and day out like the good teams are supposed to. The veterans had no ego’s and the rookies were always looking to learn something new.

I got a chance to speak with Vince Carter in a 5-minute interview with him and he was very gracious with his time. We spoke on his evolution as a player and many other things and he was very sincere in just about every word he uttered in my direction. “It’s the next challenge in my career and I have accepted it as well as had some success with it” said Carter. He openly admitted that he realizes that he is no longer a superstar anymore but has accepted that and moved into becoming one of the leagues best bench players. You could see our interview in the video above.

Carter is widely regarded as the god father of professional basketball in Canada as he made his mark with the Toronto Raptors. He captured the imagination of the fans there the same way Michael Jordan did in Chicago, but as time went on Vince was made out to be the bad guy and it seemed as if he whined his way out of Toronto. Thats not the case and that’s not the type of guy Vince Carter is, so to some people him accepting his role as a 6th man was a surprise but Carter has always been about the team.

Just to get some perspective on just how productive Vince Carter is check out the graphic above via Mavs.com. The Vince Carter renaissance is a real thing as clear by the picture above this. As you can see he has been quite the producer for that franchise in Dallas. He has led the NBA in most 3-pointers off the bench the last two seasons hitting just over 300 of them. He is getting it done consistently at an age where he his much more closer to 40 than most players in the league. What he said back in 2006 he proved to be true during the 2013-2014 season, you can be a star by just playing your role and you don’t have to score 81 points to shine.

The signature moment of his playoff career came in game 3 of the western conference quarter finals as he drained a 3-pointer at the buzzer in the corner to give the Mavs a 109-108 win over the Spurs and put his stamp on what is a hall of fame career. So to anybody reading this take the Vince Carter route and practice what you preach.