One is gone for the season;one is barely making a peep as his career closes in Memphis.
Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter. Shall we compare them? Of course, there is no comparing anyone to Bryant as an equal … because there is no in in the NBA who is his equal. But when we talk about superstars and what they are, and what they might have been, there is a place for comparing Vince and Kobe.
“The Black Mamba” may never bite again
There he goes again, not a shred of doubt in his mind to even slow him down. He just strolls over to the scorer’s table waiting to sub into the game.
At this point of the fourth quarter, his right shoulder just does not look right, as the test results will later reveal. But the man they call “Black Mamba” for his ruthless competitive demeanor is simply not about to throw in the towel just because of a little pansy “torn rotator cuff”. Even if his team is 12-30 on the season.
Look at him grabbing a rebound left-handed and going an entire possession, over 10 seconds, without involving a teammate. Without involving his injured right arm! That guy is insane! His lefty jump-hook can’t even draw iron.
In the play just prior to that one, his majestic turnaround left-handed jumper over a double-team (!) must have convinced him that his left hand is, in fact, his team’s best option. It’s mind-boggling that he thinks that, and that’s exactly the mentality that once made him the best. The best since that guy who was called “god,” once upon a time, by Larry Bird.
It’s also mind-boggling that while the Lakers probably had better options for ending that particular possession, though they weren’t that much better. Kobe Bryant will be missed this season, and let’s hope that these were not his final moments as an NBA player, but if they were, what a way to go.
Will he retire after this season? The gut instinct tells you no. But with Kobe, one never knows.
“Half-man-half-amazing” is now fully human
Just look at him, throwing that nasty dunk over that 7’1″ French guy without even breaking a sweat. He doesn’t even look all that fired-up about it too. He has done far more than that in his prime. He hurt some egos back then. Hell, he once ended the career of another French seven-footer. Not a Joke – if you don’t believe it, there’s a guy named “Frederic Weis” I want you to Google.
Vince Carter, the Raptor they once called “half man-half amazing” had gravity-repelling qualities to his physical brilliance. There was a time, and it seems much further in the past than it really is, when Vince Carter had every rim-protector in the league at his mercy. And now he’s trying to find his footing within the resilient bunch of this year’s edition of the Memphis Grizzlies. Carter hopes to win a title in this 16th season of his. Coming off the bench.
Kobe Bryant and Vince Carter, whose careers drifted apart on very different paths, now see their scripts ironically flip. One leads a roster so awful it’s hoping to be bad enough to keep a top-five pick. While the other, who was booed constantly for admitting to quit, now has a small role on a 31-12 contender for the title.
Think about it. Kobe’s ultra-competitive nature that ensures he would never age gracefully. He’s going to go down fighting, screaming and bleeding. And he’d like that much better than to “piggy-back ride” his way into a late championship. Not the Mamba. No thanks.
Carter, on the other hand, is perhaps the most under-achieving mega-superstar this league has ever seen. I know there are many more candidates who come to mind, but let’s be honest here. In his early Toronto-days, Vince Carter was the most exciting phenomenon on a basketball floor since Jordan. We all felt it at one point or another. He was a magician preforming, and we were all tuning in. And now, more than a decade after hearts were broken, some wounds have even started to heal. Carter finds yet another situation in which he can be a productive piece on a competitive squad.
Twelve years and about two and half injuries ago, Carter had the world to his feet. His face would find you anywhere, his rim-shaking dunks and high-flying blocks will haunt you during the day. You would give him your All-Star vote. You would actually vote for the All-Star game just to make sure he is in it.
Carter’s career never lived up to all that hype. It couldn’t. He started as the athletic wing from UNC, turned into a rookie sensation, a dunk contest legend and one of the very great in-game dunkers of all time, a franchise-changing superstar and then he began to drop off little by little from those incredible heights.
Carter was booed heavily whenever the Nets would come to play Toronto. He’s by far the most popular player in the Raptors franchise history, but they knew he wanted out towards the end.
It’s so symmetric it’s beautiful. Bryant, the fearless captain, is going down with his ship, while the “too laid-back to be successful on a winning team” is now in position to help a great team win it all. You can’t make those things up.
Two very different legends. Two very different legendary storylines.
Oren Levi is a writer, amateur scout and diehard NBA fan. Follow him on Twitter.