Jumpers knee too
Watching Vince you could tell how good he was, one of the more complete players of all time imo
Real hoopers know Vince had the talent to be a top 10 player ever and rival Kobe. Unfortunately just spent his prime on badly run teams
Vince just never had that takeover gene. Had lots of chances in NJ
He didn’t have a great motor either
Get real dude.
VC is the best dunker ever but he never showed potential to be top 10 all time. Not even close.
Top 10 is a real tough bracket to crack, but ai will say he had more natural talent and ability than Kobe.
I’ve heard the exact same thing said about TMac over the years. I don’t know whether it’s true or not, and the only ones who can actually answer that is themselves. I will say though, when it comes to pure talent, TMac and Vince are easily up there for players who didn’t live up to their potential, which is pretty crazy considering how good their careers were.
Even crazier that they are actually second cousins: https://www.si.com/extra-mustard/2023/03/11/vince-carter-tracy-mcgrady-hilarious-story-cousins-family-reunion
Does this look like a guy ready to play a Game 7 series clincher in a few hours?
I think graduating is a pretty big deal. You probably don’t know the feeling
No, I’ve had to make that choice; many people do. I was fortunate to get work in my field of study and would not have jeopardized that for vanity. I made the adult choice and compromised. Rescheduled where I could.
Unlike Vince, I was not in a position of leadership, nor was I getting paid tens of millions, nor did the livelihoods of my peers depend on me, neither were the hopes of a country hung on my shoulders. It shouldn’t have been a hard choice.
He was given a private jet to attend his ceremony for a whole 20 minutes. The NBA, even then, had a lot of data about short haul flights increasing injury risk and impeding performance and it was reflected in their scheduling. There’s a reason why athletes don’t fly the same day they play. Playing an early game is bad enough on it’s own - adding two flights on top of that is a significant handicap - and it showed during the game.
I’m sure if he asked they would have let him attend a ceremony on a future date.
He still would have graduated without the ceremony…
And its a big deal to most because it’s the point in their life when they’re about about get into the real world and do something with the degree they just earned.
None of that applies to him.
Lol this discourse is always funny because players like T-Mac and Vince definitely put in more work than 90% of the population at their respective occupations
Just that we have people like Kobe that set the precedent of Mamba Mentality and never taking a second of the day off to the point where he’s getting 4 hours of sleep
I mean the results showed, but 99.9% of people are not working that hard
Which doesn’t make them lazy either, they’re just not batshit crazy like Bean
Just that we have people like Kobe that set the precedent of Mamba Mentality and never taking a second of the day off to the point where he’s getting 4 hours of sleep
Not saying he didn’t work hard, but folks gotta also realize a lot of that is marketing and hype and narratives built around people. We didn’t hear about “mamba mentality” when kobe was trying to rap and shit.
When ever someone boast about being sleep deprived because he works too hard he’s bullshiting, especially for athletes. How you gonna train hard if you don’t give your body proper rest to recover.
Yep, Shohei ohtani says he sleeps like 9 hours a day and take naps during the afternoon to keep his performance at a high standard. And he’s probably the greatest two way baseball player ever at this point with no exaggeration.
There’s a correlation between lack of sleep and cancer. I’ve always found it odd people boast about no sleep and able to work.
Sure you can get tons of shit done but when is over get ready for the diseases that will ravage your body when you retire.
Aren’t they related too?
Cousins
Very distant cousins though. Like it took Tracy’s grandmother to recognise a very distant familial connection that technically meant they’re related.
No one is interested in whether they put in more work than some random at Taco Bell or some booze hound faking his hours to get more beer money.
What’s the point in even considering that?
If someone is blessed by genetics with a level of physical talent that outpaces 99.9% of the general populace is everyone supposed to be impressed that they beat out 99.9% of the general populace by basically not doing drugs to the point of ruining themselves or not committing a crime that got them put in the system?
Being born talented and not fucking it up isn’t a positive it’s just not a negative.
If a guy born into the 99.9% of athletes decides to coast I won’t say he shouldn’t do that but I also wont lie and say he didn’t coast or couldn’t have been better.
Kobe wanted to meet his max potential, approximate quote was he wanted to squeeze out all of the juice he had.
If Vince wanted to be elite while putting in professional level of effort but not give 90 hrs on an expected 40 hr work week it doesn’t make him bad. But let’s not pretend it isn’t what it is and compare him to “90% of the population”.
Also stupid of a McGrady and Carter not to have Shaq as teammate. They didn’t want it enough
I don’t think the discourse was ever meant as disrespect to either, but that their potential was so insanely high that even with above average effort even by NBA standards, they couldn’t reach it. That’s more of a testament to how insanely talented they were.
T-Mac was arguably the best player in the world at 23 years old. 23. He was averaging 32, 6, 5, 2 and 1 in a god awful Orlando team that opposing teams could guard by just… doubling T-Mac. The same T-Mac who still scored 32 a game.
His true peak, barring injuries, would’ve probably been 2/3 years after that. He was absolutely unreal. Especially for a league that scored much less than nowadays.
VC apparently (i believe i’ve heard him himself say it before) was a bit of a victim of getting too much hype, too early, and kinda coasted on his natural talent the first few years of his career. Which makes it absolutely insane that he put up the numbers that he did.
I honestly think the two are the single most naturally talented players (Behind LBJ) to ever enter the League, both had really fantastic careers and were amongst the top five players in the league for a bit (T-Mac was definitely THE best for a minute) but their careers could’ve been that much better if injuries weren’t a thing and if they had the work ethic someone like Kobe had (Again, not meant as a knock to them, but funnily enough when you’re that talented you have to put in even more effort to reach your full potential).
We definitely did see T-Mac close to his full potential in the 2003 seasons, it’s just that it didn’t last long due to injuries
TMac’s peak was much higher than Carter’s, he just had lots of injuries.
Crazy that they are cousins.
Imagine if they both lived up to their potential and stayed in Toronto together? Raptors would have won multiple titles. Heck, just having T-Mac stay in Toronto would have made them a contender while Vince was there.
TMac had some dope kicks though. In middle school in the early 00s, I had a pair of TMac 2.0s in white and blue.
The GOAT shoes and it’s not close.
That’s a BOLD statement lol
Those were dope AF at the time. Definitely the coolest shoe when they came out
My buddy gave me his pair of Tmac 1. I have wide feet and those fuckers hurt. I wore the fuck out of them things.
If Tmac hadn’t been such a bitch and stayed in Toronto , they would have won at least 1 championship with him and Vince.
Instead they have 0 and the Raptors have 1.
Everyone forgets about Rockets T-Mac. There was a few seasons in Houston where there was a legit conversation as to whether he or Kobe was the best 2 in the league.
The only reason TMac didn’t leave up to his career was injuries. Dude was an absolute monster and much better than Vince in his absolute prime.
Dude should never have left toronto, we could have had something special with him and T-MAC… that said, hindsight is 20-20 and the organization was dogshit back then (the owners are still dogshit but at least we have masai in the FO now)
Tmac left before Vince
T-Mac’s early career is a parade of “what if’s”.
What if he stays in Toronto? What if Grant Hill stays healthy? What if Tim Duncan ends up in Orlando?
I think you missed the biggeset one, what if he stays healthy?
kobe with vince body probably close to mj
Kobe is already close to MJ…
Style wise, sure
Kobe in MJ body is better than MJ. Hell, just give Kobe largers hands and 4 inches more vertical, he could have been the greatest ever.
Kobe with Vince’s body and athlecism is MJ.
The difference between Kobe and Jordan wasn’t just phyisicality or athleticism. What are we doing here?
I heard it bowlth wayz b
L take, Kobe is the closest thing to MJ
Ah yes, known winners Gilbert Arenas and Brandon Jennings opining on what mindset you need to be a winner.
this dude talks too much and just be saying anything to get posted. i just stop reading once i see “gilbert arenas says”
We have one of those in Shaedon Sharpe I fear. Supreme athlete but he carries himself is like that’s all he will need to be.
Arenas is an idiot
I get it but Vince is not a psychopath, and that’s okay.
Carter had a great, long, career and will be remembered. Plus he made multi-generational wealth.
Not everyone wants to be a psychopath who lives to be a top 10 player ever.
Facts, life is just bigger than being the greatest to play the game. Or doing any career for that matter
That Kobe marketing really hits different
Everything Vince did looked smooth. Everything. If he had that killer instinct absolutely he could’ve been a generational talent.
Vince retired in the top 25 scorers of all time. If that’s not generational I don’t know what is.
Has Vince in his prime ever been blocked on a dunk attempt? I don’t think he has
Realest thing Hibachi has ever said. Vince had all the talent to be MJ, he just didn’t have the killer instinct. Give him Kobe or KG’s killer instinct and more durability in his prime, and he would’ve been in the top 5 all time.
Forget top 5, he’d be top 1.
