Vince Carter had eight All-Star nominations across a 22-year-long career, which is a very rare feat to accomplish in a competitive league like the NBA. Despite that, Carter never really broke into the GOAT conversation. In this wake, Gilbert Arenas stirred up controversy during his last appearance on Vlad TV by claiming that Carter would’ve been at the same level as Michael Jordan or LeBron James if he really worked hard.
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However, Sebastian Telfair, during his recent appearance on Vlad TV, disagreed with what Arenas had to say about Vince Carter.
During the show, Agent Zero was asked by DJ Vlad to name a player who, in his opinion, couldn’t reach his full potential and would have been at the level of MJ and Kobe if he did. Arenas said, in response, that there’s so much that Vince Carter could’ve done in his career if he had the killer instincts of Jordan. “I think I’ll call him [Carter] lazy, because it’s my way of saying he was too nice,” he added.
When Telfair was asked for his comment on Arenas’ take, he said, “Disagree. Vince Carter is Vince Carter…Vince Carter had one of the best careers in NBA history.” The former NBA star added that the only thing that Carter doesn’t have that the other greats do have is an NBA title.
Telfair said that if the eight-time All-Star had switched teams in search of championships and ended his career with one or two titles, his career would’ve been that much better from a wider perspective.
Despite not having a ring, Telfair believes that Carter did justice to not only his talent, but also his career. He said, “[Vince Carter] played for 20 years, did it at a high level, I don’t think there’s much more he could’ve done.” The former Trail Blazers star added that questioning VC’s work ethic is unfair because if he wasn’t great at his job, he wouldn’t have played the game at this level for over two decades.
When Mr. Vinsanity was asked for his response to the critics, he had something similar to say.
Vince Carter chimed in on the work ethic debate
During a conversation with Taylor Rooks, Carter was asked, “Did your natural talent meet your work ethic?”
Carter had said in response, “I feel like it did. I don’t work at trying to outrun somebody being athletic, but I had to work on skill and footwork.” The 47-year-old said that he was surrounded by the likes of Tracy McGrady and Charles Oakley early on in his career and he loved every minute of it.
Carter said that the criticism disappointed him only when it came from people who knew him and knew how hard he worked. Outside of that, he said that he understands everyone cannot be pleased by one person at the same time.
So, all he has to say in his defense is the fact that he had a stellar 22-year career in the toughest league in the world. That can only be achieved if someone works really hard at their craft.
