Temporary Vinsanity...by Apollo

While Wongoz continues to travel the world, he and others will no doubt be monitoring various sports media services over the next few days for particulars on a rumoured trade involving Toronto Raptors basketball star Vince Carter. Breaking news in the last 24 hours have cited the ubiquitous "league sources" to support a possible trade between the Raptors and the Portland Trailblazers involving combinations of Carter, guard Jalen Rose, and Blazers Shareef Abdur-Rahim, Nick Van Exel, and Derek Anderson. The only sure thing is that if Carter is traded, it will be the single most important transaction in Raptor general manager Rod Babcock's short tenure to date, and perhaps the most important trade of this franchise's 10-year history.

The VC era in Toronto was once so promising, so bright, and so full of potential that ESPN The Magazine once annointed the young guard its "Next" cover star. Carter, who announced his arrival to the basketball world with a jaw-dropping performance at the 2000 NBA All-Star Game, where he started as a sophmore and won the Slam Dunk Competition, led Toronto to its only playoff round win in franchise history. As every Raptor fan knows, Toronto came within a missed Carter jump shot from advancing to the Eastern Conference Finals, losing to the Philadelphia 76ers in seven games. Even when Carter's cousin, Tracy McGrady, disrespected the franchise and left as a free agent, Carter elected to stay, signing a contract extension and endearing himself to basketball fans and media everywhere. Carter's popularity has won him the highest number of votes for the annual NBA All-Star Game on a number of occassions, even during seasons where he has been injured.

As Wongoz has already diarized however, Vince has fallen out of favour in recent years. Injuries, a lack of performance, a lack of the spectacular dunks and drives to the basket that he was once known for, and the fickle preferences of sports media and fans in a city that doesn't necessarily know everything about pro basketball (but thinks it does), have combined to make Vince a tarnished superstar, culminating in his weak trade request this summer. Although both Carter and Rahim have backed off of trade demands in recent weeks, it appears they both now may be traded, whether they want it or not.

Carter's performances so far this season have been nothing short of dismal. Playing for his third coach in three years, Vince has seemed indifferent on the court and is settling for the jump shot even more often than usual. While his defence has improved more than anyone will give him credit for, his lone bright spots this season were a game-winning three point shot against Portland earlier in the year and a first quarter performance against Seattle where he did not miss a shot. While he has shown flashes of the old VC from time to time, this has only caused fans and his critics to jump all over him further, claiming that he's capable of playing better if he put more effort into his game. All the more maddening is that this year's Raptor squad is a competitive bunch, and even if Vince were to perform at last year's output, the team would be much better than its current 4-5 record indicates.

Those who constantly call for Vince to be traded should be wary that it is almost a certainty that whichever team he is sent to will receive a liberated player who will surely outperform what his recent Raptor games have shown. This of course leads to the ridiculous claims by the same fans and critics that the Raptors should hold on to Carter unless offered a significant NBA superstar in return. It seems no one in Toronto thinks that Vince is a star anymore, unless of course it's time to talk trade, and that's when other teams should believe he is one so that Toronto can get a good player back in return for him. Fans and media will likely be disappointed at these latest rumours, as Abdur-Rahim is a steady scorer and rebounder, but not much else and certainly was not comparable to Vince when they both played in Canada years ago.

While I have been a much more ardent Carter supporter than most (including Wongoz), I have become resigned to the fact that Vince will likely be traded in the short future and the Raptors will most certainly not receive equal value for him. I've never understood the seeming thrill that media and fans alike in this city derive from turning so viciously on the stars who play here. Athletes such as Mats Sundin, Eddie Belfour, Carlos Delgado, and Carter are just as likely to be villified than praised, and the scorn directed toward Carter has reached all-time heights this season. While I do agree that the enormous salaries that athletes receive leads to increased scrutiny and criticism, I've always been amazed at how a city like Toronto can annoint a player a saviour, pay that player without understanding all the factors necessary to achieve a rarefied winning product, and then tear down that same player when things go wrong. Vince was the foundation upon which the Raptors were built, but the pieces put in place around him were lacking, and after a while, the foundation itself crumbled, tired of going through three coaches and numerous teammates in three years, tired of missing the playoffs, tired of being doubled on the perimeter and triple teamed every time he entered the paint, tired of taking constant contact without foul calls then being labelled as "soft" by his own fans and media, tired of reading about how he wasn't a true star while people continued to demand star performances.

Unfortunately now, the relationship between the Raptors and Vince most likely cannot be ressurrected, unless Carter shows more effort and leadership, and the fans and media give him a break. It turns out that for a number of reasons, Vince Carter is no longer the superstar that the world made him out to be, and Toronto will not have the chance to see if he can once again reach those former heights, unless they have a satellite dish to watch him play for his new club. If anything, the Carter saga should certainly serve as a cautionary tale to Lebron James and the new wave of young NBA stars, but perhaps Chris Bosh, should be the most attentive of anyone. With Carter gone, he will be thought of as the new building block, and time will tell how fast Toronto fans and media decide to tear him down.