Could Vince Carter have been the next Michael Jordan had he pulled a Kevin Durant? Notably, Durant, throughout his career, faced severe criticism for allegedly being on championship teams rather than leading a team to the championship. Now, in an episode of VLAD TV, Gilbert Arenas had stated ‘Air Canada’ could have been the next Mike if he had a different work ethic. Though Gil denied calling him lazy since the two never shared a locker room.

However, ex-NBA star Sebastian Telfair disagrees with Gil’s Mike and Carter opinion, but agrees with the possibility of a better career for Vince. Appearing on a recent episode of VLAD TV, Telfair stated Carter is Carter. He gave his earlier statement of Kobe ain’t Jordan as an example. And Telfair believes VC’s career has already been one of the best in NBA history.

“If Carter had 2 championships in there, his career would’ve been that much better. But he played for 20 years, did it at a high level. I don’t think as much more he could have done,” Telfair added. As for Carter’s work ethic, he believes it got the 8x All Star through 20 years in the league. And he did this while staying in good shape the whole time. Notably, ‘Air Canada’ so far has the record for playing the highest (22) seasons in the league.

Now, Sebastian may have disagreed with Gil’s one opinion, but he agreed Carter paid the cost of being a nice guy. In his appearance on the VLAD TV, Gil stated the 8x All Star had almost everything from jumping ability, hands, arm hang time, charisma style, but he was a nice guy. Telfair agreed, stating if Carter was a bit more tenacious, he could have won more.

Why did Vince Carter not get much after chasing a ring?

Notably, the maximum criticism for Durant comes from his move from Thunder to Warriors. The GSW were already championship material before KD landed with the team. They had already won in 2015 and lost a hard fought (4-3) 2016 finals. The team won in 2017 and 2018 as well with Durant on it, but he got the tag of allegedly being a bus rider and not the driver.

As for Carter, he preferred being in control. The closest he came to claiming a championship was an Eastern Conference Finals appearance in season 2009-10 with Orlando Magic. But the Celtics ousted the Magic from the championship run with a 4-2 win. After this season, however, VC was not consistent with teams in the league. But he did not go chasing the ring despite having opportunities from teams like Warriors and Rockets.

And it’s not as if Carter did not have high championship aspirations. But joining a super team was against his beliefs. “As much as I thought about it, I didn’t think about going against what I believe in. I wanna play and earn my championship instead of being on the coattails of others who do it,” he said in an interview with Taylor Rooks.

The 8x All Star stated it would’ve been different had he got traded or if the situation worked because a team wanted him there. But he did not want to be on a team where he would not get to play much, but his voice would’ve been paramount. As a result, Vince Carter remains a name among “best NBA stars who never won a championship”. 

Stay tuned for more such updates. And to follow what Shaq’s ex-agent, Leonard Armato, has to say about the infamous Shaq-Kobe feud, Caitlin Clark’s Olympic snub, and more, watch this video.