44-year-old Vince Carter is an 8x All-Star, 2x All-NBA player, and a 22-year veteran in the NBA. After playing his last game in 2020, the guy continues to be remembered for all that he was able to accomplish on the court.
But does anyone really consider him the most talented player ever?
According to former league swingman Richard Jefferson, Vince is, indeed, the most talented player he’s ever witnessed in his lifetime.
“I have never seen anything like Vince Carter,” said Jefferson. “I was fortunate enough to play with LeBron. But there was nothing that I have ever seen this man not be able to do. Left-hand finishes, left-hand dunks, 360 layups, handle it like a point guard. … To me, he is the most talented player I have ever seen in my life.”
As controversial as the statement was, RJ wasn’t wrong about Carter’s wide range of abilities.
He could dunk, handle, drive, shoot, and pretty much everything in between. Though he was never able to win an NBA Championship, there were no real limits to his game.
Interestingly enough, Matt Barnes made a similar statement about Vince in the past:
“I got a chance to play with Kobe, got a chance to play with AI, Shaq. Vince is probably the most gifted basketball player I’ve ever played with.”
Needless to say, there seems to be some evidence that Vince Carter’s talent has gone a little underrated by today’s fans. To put him above AI, Shaq, and Kobe really speaks volumes to how gifted he was as a player.
Of course, Carter has since retired from the league after becoming the first player in NBA history to extend his career through four different decades.
He was really something special, even if he rarely gets mentioned in the same breath as some of his peers.
