NBA Icon Vince Carter Places His Full Hope on 25YO Star-Led Franchise Only for 1 Reason

Two titans from the Eastern Conference were looking at the West and they saw something they liked. Vince Carter asked his former teammate about his thoughts on the Western Conference rankings. And it appears his friend stole the words out of his mouth. The former Toronto Raptors star not only agreed with his friend, he doubled down on his point. It was one player in particular who gave him reason to watch out for this team.

This team was ranked at No. 6 in the west at the time. And if the ESPN veteran is to be believed, one player is going to take the franchise a lot further this season.

Vince Carter is SGA’s hypeman

NBA pro-turned-sportscaster, Vince Carter hosted his former teammate, Alvin Williams on his self-titled YouTube channel. Apart from their stories back in their days as Raptors, they also talked about the current class of NBA players. Someone in particular has Vinsanity nearly bouncing on his feet.

Carter asked Williams about the top 8 contenders in the Western Conference. For both of them, no. 5 (as of Carter’s show), Oklahoma City Thunder stood out because of a 6’6″ reason. “I love a SGA guy,’?he said about Shai Gilgeous-Alexander, the 25-year-old point guard of Thunder.

Vinsanity awed with his showreel-worthy slam dunks. And he’s awed by SGA who apparently plays with the true spirit of the game. “He’s an unselfish superstar… he like, ‘man I’m just trying to get whatever I need to do.’ And he understands when he needs to take over, when he needs to kind of give the ball.”?

It’s not only Shai but also his teamwork with the others that have left Carter and Williams impressed. They’ve noticed that SGA knows when to pass to Luguentz Dort and Chet Holmgren when they’re on a roll.

Rankings as usual will fluctuate. Following Carter and Williams’ discussion, SGA&Co. dropped down a rank. Carter may have also identified that the problem has to do with SGA’s talent.

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Vince Carter wants Thunder to rise to the challenge

When Vince Carter was in his prime, he turned slam dunks into art in motion. Today athletes who pull a spectacle like that draw comparisons to?Half Human-Half Amazing. He goes back in time with Williams, talking about those days, when strong opponents made them better.

According to Carter, SGA and his teammates are lacking a challenge to make them better. “?SGA was already proven he’s one of the best,” Carter prefaced before adding he needs elite opponents to draw out the best in him.

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Where Shai and his team find that challenge, is not entirely clear. Do you agree with Carter’s take on Thunder and SGA?