PROTECT THE PAINT

Vince Carter claimed in article by the Orlando Sentinel that he is not concerned about being inducted into the Hall of Fame. He’s a scoring machine. A natural talent. Arguable the world’s greatest dunker of all time. But none of these intangible qualities that Carter possesses has ever lead to any significant results in the win column during the post season. You know, the part of the season that matters most? The part of a career that basically decides if you are worthy for the Hall of Fame or not.

When asked about his chances at making the Hall of Fame without a winning a ring, Carter (for no apparent reason whatsoever) throws Charles Barkley under the bus stating “I don’t know. I don’t think so. If I’m not mistaken, Charles Barkley got in.”

Vince has got to be kidding. Barkley made it to the NBA finals, and lost to the greatest NBA player of all time, Michael Jordan. Has Vince ever advanced out of the second round of the playoffs? Nope. Huge difference in Hall of Fame qualifications right there.

Are we going to try to win tonight? (Credit: picapp.com)

The main flaw in Carter’s interview, what truly represents the meat of the matter with this discrepancy, is that he says he would like to “try” to win a championship:

“I’ll just finish my career and hopefully, at the end of the day, it’s good enough. I don’t play the game for that reason. It’s an honor, but before that happens, I’d like to try to win a championship.”

What great players, hall of fame inductees, all stars, etc, have ever said they would like to “try” to win a championship? Most winners will say, straight away, that they want to win the championship. Nothing else matters to them.

You think Kevin Garnett is going to forget this quote come playoff time? That quote will be posted in the Celtics locker room somewhere, feeding the frenzy for the Celtics. Would LeBron say he wants to try to win a ring? How about Kobe? These guys will taunt Vinsanity the moment he steps on the floor.

“Hey Vince, you guys going to try to win tonight?”

This kind of comment would never be uttered by a true winner. Not even by mistake. Winners don’t let up, ever.

It is like Vince Carter is mailing it in before he has even played a single playoff game for the Magic. Already setting the table for failure. He has already committed the cardinal sin of basketball while once in his career while in Toronto, admitting he did not put forth his best effort to give his team a chance to win.

Should Vince Carter be a member of the Hall of Fame? Absolutely not. He should be in the “Hall of Lame”, for not giving it his all every time he walked on the court? Absolutely!

Should every Orlando Magic fan brace themselves for a major failure by Vince come playoff time?

It is likely he might “try,” but trying is not good enough to cut it in the NBA. Boston or Cleveland will not try, they will win. Sorry Orlando, but Carter has set the table early.

I hope you can still “try” to like Carter after Orlando is eliminated in the playoffs.

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