Vince Carter: The old guard stills stands firm

We all remember Vince Carter as the high flier who would obliterate any and all who stood in his way, spreading Vinsanity and shattering egos of wannabe shotblockers. Vince would make defensive players of the year look lost when he would elevate to end them. Lost amidst the blood and gore of his visceral dunks has been the fact that Vince has been quietly moving his way up the ladder in scoring to rub shoulders with the hall of fame athletes who have graced the hardwood. Vince Carter has just moved up the ranks among the greatest players to ever play the game. He has surpassed Larry Bird as the 29th all time leader in points scored in the NBA. Larry Bird’s record stood at 21,791. Today, while playing against the Sacramento Kings, Vince scored 26 points while making seven three pointers to increase his total points scored to 21,796. Dallas won that game 123-100.

“There were open shots and I was shooting them to make them. I wasn’t shooting to get attention. I’ve talked to Larry before. He is a legend and one of the greatest to play the game.” Vince needed 1037 games to surpass Bird. Larry got his 21,791 in 897 games. Next up in the scoring list for Carter to overtake is Gary Payton with 21,813. With his five three pointers, Vince also became the 11th NBA player to score at least 1,600 three pointers.

“It seems like every night, one of our guys is breaking a record,” said Shawn Marion. “It’s cool what we’ve accomplished in this league. And we got a ‘W.’ All that stacked on top of each other is good.”

The NBA’s old guard is really shattering records left, right and center this year. Kobe crossed 30,000 points, Nash crossed 10,000 assists. The list is never ending, and now Vince has joined it. Here’s a look at a new series I’ve started, NBA 33 Over 30. I’ll be looking at 33 players in the NBA over the age of 30 who are still lighting it up in the NBA. You know Vince is on that list.

“It speaks to how well he’s taken care of himself and longevity,” said Dallas coach Rick Carlisle, who also played with Bird in Boston. “You don’t pass Larry Bird on the scoring list unless you’ve been in it a long time.”

When we think of Vince Carter, we think of the dunks.

But we also think of the missed opportunities. Thought as the heir to the throne of MJ, Vince was vilified for not fulfilling that potential. It seems that being compared to MJ is something of a death kneel for a player. Vince has joined Jordan and Erving as the only players to lead the All-Star ballot three or more times. But he never became Jordan. No other moment captured that more than when Vince was ripped apart for not giving up his starting spot in the All-Star game to Jordan in 2003, Jordan’s last year. Eventually Vince stepped down and let Jordan start. “He was very respectful,” Jordan said of Carter. When we think of Carter, we think of how Vince and his cousin Tracy McGrady couldn’t get along in Toronto and T-Mac left him for Orlando. Kobe said that had those two played together, they could have won multiple titles. When we think of Vince, we think of the time in the 2001 Playoffs when Vince and Iverson gave us a duel for the ages, going back and forth versus each other with 50 point games.

“It was incredible. (Carter) had great games at home and I had some great games at home, but both of us were just trying to put our teams on our back and win basketball games. It is great just having those memories and being a part of something like that.”- Iverson had said.

That was the season when Vince averaged a career high 27.6 points per game. That was the series in which Vince set the NBA record for three pointers made in a playoff game. That series boiled down to a Game 7 and to a final shot which Vince missed. That was the day that Vince chose to attend the graduation ceremony at UNC. Vince had left school for NBA after his junior year in 1998 and had just completed his degree in Afro-American studies through a correspondence course. “It’s something I’m going to accomplish on top of playing in Game 7 and I think I’m mentally prepared for both.”- Vince had said. And he ended up arriving in Philadelphia five hours before game time and missing the potential game winner – a shot which to this day must haunt him. When we think Vince, we think of the tandem he had with Jason Kidd in New Jersey and the trip to the NBA Finals which resulted in nothing. We think of the failed opportunity with Dwight Howard in Orlando, the brief stint in Phoenix and now the old veteran biding his time in Dallas.

Most of all, we think of the Dunk of Death.

Blake Griffin still hasn’t surpassed that. When we think of Carter, we think of a potential superhuman who never quite got it because of his injuries. But we should also think of the dunk contest he won, the rookie of the year award, the eight All-Star starts, making the all NBA second and third teams; but most of all, we should think of the fact that Vince Carter has just surpassed Larry Bird in points scored. The magnitude of his 21,796 points can be best appreciated by thinking of the rarefied company he belongs to now.

When you think of Vince Carter, remember that he has crossed Larry Bird as the all time leading scorer in the NBA at the 29th spot. And he’s still climbing his way up.