Too cool Carter hurting the NBA

By Sean Rogers Sports Central Columnist

Sitting in the cafeteria of my school this past Thursday, I heard a rare discussion about the NBA.

Wondering if I should report this strange interest in the NBA to David Stern, I walked over and began to listen to their conversation.

For some reason or another, they seemed to think that there was going to be an expansion NBA team in Hartford.

Clearly not realizing the rules of an expansion draft, they were deciding which player they wanted on the team first.

"Tim Duncan," said one.

"Shaquille O'Neal," said another.

I don't really know which one of these two would make a better start to a franchise, but that isn't the topic of this article. (For the record, take the younger Duncan.)

Then came the comment that made me want to write an article.

"I'd take Vince Carter over any of those guys to start my team."

You'd take what? Okay, it's better than saying that you would start a team around Milt Palacio. And yeah, I'd take VC over my hometown favorite, Vitaly Potapenko.

Starting a team with Vince Carter? Well, there is no need to forecast into the future whether or not that would be a good idea.

Fortunately, there is a team that did start with Vince Carter, and they are not very good.

No supporting cast?

Nah. The Raptors have a pretty good supporting cast, although not great. Antonio Davis is arguably the best center in the East. No supporting cast is why UNC Wilmington lost to Indiana even though Brett Blizzard played the game of his life. No supporting cast for Toronto? Merely an excuse to cover up the poor play of Carter.

Carter is a brilliant talent. At North Carolina, Carter was the one bringing the excitement in Chapel Hill, next to the steadying hand of Antawn Jamison. I was a Carter fan, wearing my No. 15 Carolina blue jersey, as Carter shook the Arena with every dunk or three pointer. Carter had fun back then, and he was a fun player to watch.

Year one of life in Toronto was a good one for Carter. He won the Rookie of the Year and made everybody wonder why he was picked behind Antawn Jamison. He even seemed to have fun that year. His arrival revitalized the Toronto Raptors basketball. (Is it possible to revitalize basketball when this was the first time Toronto had been good?)

Then, something changed.

Carter was suddenly too cool for me. Yeah, the average fan was no longer good enough for Carter. He became a superstar in media attention, but began to decline on the court.

Take the Olympics. Is it possible to play an entire Olympics without smiling once? Sale and Pelletier got screwed this year, and last time I checked, they smiled quite a bit, anyway.

Nope ... not Carter though. He played every game as if he was a man on a mission. Actually, Carter looked more like the escaped inmate from County Jail that the U.S. allowed to play in the Olympics. He became the image of the Dirty American.

Back to the present time. Carter is still scoring, no doubt, and Carter is still playing angry. Actually, Carter is playing in pain, too ... something that he won't let you forget.

Some people on his team try to defend him, including Davis, who said that Carter often needs to conserve his energy on defense so that he can score on offense.

Well, this just in. Paul Pierce on the Celtics plays a mean defense and still scores just as much as Carter. And after wins or big shots, Pierce and teammate Antoine Walker often look as if they ... won? Weird concept.

So to Vince Carter, I say this: Vince, you are a good player. Yet, until you realize that you are one of the luckiest men alive, a talented NBA basketball player, whereas I am just a student writing articles voluntarily, you will never take the next step into being a team leader. Your coach, Lenny Wilkins, lost control of an Atlanta team that had become too young, a sign of the new times. Well, Vince, before Lenny loses control in Toronto, perhaps you should take a cue from the Hall of Fame coach ... and play as if you love the game.

Article courtesy of Sports Central.