Vince Carter is a household name even today because he’s the greatest dunker ever. But Gilbert Arenas swears he could’ve been Michael Jordan.
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The game of basketball has had a plethora of spectacular dunkers over the course of its history. Starting from Elgin Baylor and Wilt Chamberlain, you then had the Dr. Js, David Thompsons and Dr. Dunkensteins of the league.
These players gave way to the better-trained and equipped athletes of the 80s, 90s and so forth. However, if there’s one name that stands out in a different light to that of every other dunker, it’s that of Vince Carter.
Vince ‘Air Canada’ Carter was long viewed as an NBA-level talent – even as a college freshman. But he’d promised his mother that he’d finish his college degree. Thus, he stayed at Chapel Hill for 4 years, making innumerable highlight-reel plays as a Tar Heel.
Carter came in as NBA-ready a prospect as any in the decade before him. Before long, he was posterizing all the great centers in the game before they knew what had hit them.
It got to a point where people would duck or sway out of his path to remove themselves from highlights. Vince had a truly unmatched turn of speed and direction, in addition to being able to jump off and elevate from either or both feet.
Gilbert Arenas compares Vince Carter to Michael Jordan in terms of athletic abilities
Gilbert Arenas talked about Vince Carter and what he could potentially have been in a recent podcast with Josiah Johnson. The former Wizards star gave all the props in the world to the Tar Heels legend’s talents:
“As a hooper, Vince was supposed to be the next MJ – the Air. That’s the talent he possessed, that’s the talent that from the naked eye you could see. ‘Man, he’s unstoppable!'”
“When he got mad, you could not contain Vince Carter. But Vince Carter was just a chill dude. And that’s how he played the game.”
