I know this has been talked about at nausea but I still can't get over how good Vince Carter was during some of those years as a Raptor. Youtube has only helped prolong my nostalgia with some of his highlights his first few years in the NBA, his Slam Dunk championship, and the extraordinary numbers he put up going toe for toe against Iverson in that 7 game series. Celebrities were coming to Toronto to see this guy play, the Raptors were playing on prime time on the big US Networks and he couldn't escape those Jordan comparisons.
Injuries obviously played a factor in his athletic skill set but he's never had the same attitude or persona on the court that he did in those years as a Raptor. The scary thing about how talented and what his career could've been is the numbers he's still managed to put up solid numbers without the drive or work ethic he once had.
A lot of times I get carried away playing the "what if" game with sports, but I can't help it with Carter because their are just so many. If he had a better support group around him (not on the team but in his life), if the Raptors had managed that team a little better coming off that playoff run to game 7 vs Philly, if those injuries never happened, if he hit that shot falling away against the 76ers. No doubt in my mind he would've gone down as one of the most famous and celebrated athletes in Canada of all time.
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