ESPN's Most Overrated Athletes (a Vince Carter thread)

[Wall St. Peon]

http://espn.go.com/page2/s/list/mostoverrated.html

According to ESPN, Vince Carter is the most overrated athlete "ever."

1. Vince Carter
The second coming of Michael Jordan? Not quite. To quote one ESPN editor who's seen this country through a bagful of undeclared wars, "Vince Carter is the most overrated athlete of my lifetime."

Mike Tyson is second and Chris Webber is tenth, with Jerry Stackhouse getting an honorable mention. Now, Chris Webber has almost always had the overrated label, but Vince Carter was able to acheive this lately - after he's been hurt for essentially two seasons. The thing is that Carter was a shell of himself when he played injured, but in my opinion he was still much better than the average player even at 50 percent health. The most overrated athlete EVER? Please...

Why is Carter getting so much negative publicity? Because he was great his first couple of years and got hurt? Grant Hill isn't overrated, and he's played less games than Carter the last two years because of injuries. How is that fair? Tons of players go out with knee injuries every year, and a great deal of those players are superstars as well as scrubs, but they aren't overrated.

You could say Carter was overrated because he was called the next MJ and didn't deliver...but seeing as no one has, and there were probably over 50 'next MJs' before Carter even was drafted. Does that make him overrated? No...

Why does everyone think he's overrated? He's a bit disappointing, but only because of his injuries. He's still a fan favorite, is that why sports 'experts' call him overrated?

This just blows my mind that the guy who wrote this article thinks that Vine Carter is the most overrated athlete EVER, over Mike Tyson no less!

Comments?

[madskillionaire]

Vince Carter...Overrated??? hardly. if anything, someone such as, "the truth" would fall in that category. and just like shane said, look at how many ppl have came in to the league, being called the next michael, and they dont even come close, like kobe for instance......(T-MAC #1 )

[air gordon]

i wouldn't say he's overrated, but i will say carter has been disappointing- as mentioned, his career started on such a note but recently he can't drop the injury bug. i can still remember the raptors/sixers series...

and since i spent a high fantasy pick on VC (i was very influenced after reading that article on him in the espn mag that came out just before the season started)- and see him play only half the seasons games, he's one of the reasons i'm $100 poorer and a mainstay in my doghouse

[TheBob]

Let me start by saying that this article makes absolutly no sense if the author is not going to define overated. Sure he says that the players' reputations exceed them but he doesn't go further into detail. Moving on, does anyone else notice that he picks on (at least) three players who've suffered with injuries. Carter, Bure, and Webber have suffered from physical injuries whereas Tyson suffers from psychological injuries.

Carter IS NOT the most overated athlete of all time. Ask any opposing coach in the league how good Carter is when healthy and they'll put him in their top 10 or 15. Nobody wants to guard Carter just like nobody wants to guard Tmac or Kobe. Pat Riley was quoted this past year as saying that if the Raptors would have been healthy they would have been a 50 win team. Riley is one of the best coaches of all time and I highly doubt that he was thinking of Alvin Williams or Antonio Davis when he made that comment.

Sure Carter was hyped up his first few years but was it really unwaranted? He won the slam dunk competition, was rookie of the year, he hit numerous game winners, and carried his team to the playoffs for the first time in franchise history all while playing an exciting brand of basketball.

Now if you didnt think he was overhyped then, which he probably wasn't, then you certainly cant think he's overhyped or overated now. Sure he's had injuries recently, but Carter is a better player now than he was when he was receiving all that attention and now he's getting kicked while he's down.

I doubt the author thought Carter was the most overrated athlete ever a couple of years ago. Now, suddenly, when he gets injured he's overated? Then where's Grant Hill(as someone else previously mentioned)?

Finally, does anyone else think it's fairly hippocrytical(dont feel like checking spelling, so shut up if it's wrong) for the media to call people overated when they're the ones who hype them up?

This really is my last point ( I promise). I believe Jordan is the most overhyped athlete ever. People call him the greatest basketball player of all time for God's sake...

[GloveGuy]

Ben Wallace? Antoine Walker? Vince Carter? This guy doesn't know what he's talking about. But it's just his opinion.

Ben Wallace is only given the credit that he deserves. He has the best defensive stats in the league, which is why he was given Defensive Player Of The Year Award. He might have little offensive skills, but his presence makes him the MVP on his team. The Pistons are one of the best in the league(or the East) which is why he was an MVP candidate.

Antoine Walker is a player where you have to watch him play often to see why he's an all-star. He might not have should've participated in the Three Point Contest, but he definitely deserved to be an all-star. He's a 6'9"-6'10" forward, who can also run the break and play point guard for his team. His post skills are very good and though he's a really streaky shooter, he's probably the second best shooter out of all the power forwards in the league(Dirk Nowitski being first). His intensity is very large, and he is awesome at getting the home crowd pumped or settled(if they're away). He's an awesome team leader, as seen in the Celtics comeback from the Nets in 2002 Playoffs.

Vince Carter still has more than half of his career left. People are getting very impatient with him and giving him shit his last two seasons were plagued by injuries. I bet he'll do very well next year if he doesn't get injured(don't quote me). He had some pretty good games last year, showing strong signs of recovery. To say that he's the most overrated of all time, is being very impatient of him, when many of the greatest hadn't even hit their primes until the middle of their careers. Just because he had a really good second year and has slumped a bit for the last few years, doesn't mean that he doesn't have anything yet.

[slam37]

Everyone likes to bring up Grant Hill and other injured athletes when defending Vince Carter. However, I think those who do that largely miss the boat of what being overrated is... Nobody claims that Grant Hill is still the next Jordan, is still a superstar, or can still lead his team to an awesome season. However, many, many people claim Vince Carter will be able to do that. Anotherwards, the hype that everyone talks about has not stopped with Carter. And simply put Carter has expectations to be a superstar, and until he IS a superstar consistently for 3 or 4 seasons, he is overrated.

[GloveGuy]

Well Grant Hill's missed most of the last three seasons, which is different. Grant Hill probably will never return to the superstar that he was, while Carter still has a lot of his career left. I remember Grant Hill being voted as a starter in his first year with the Magic, which he barely played, and I think he was pretty high in the votings this year.

[Andrew]

You could say Carter was overrated because he was called the next MJ and didn't deliver...but seeing as no one has, and there were probably over 50 'next MJs' before Carter even was drafted. Does that make him overrated? No...

My thoughts exactly. If you throw out all the next MJ nonsense, consider that it's essentially a marketing gimmick, Vince is not overrated. He hasn't had a chance to redeem himself after a couple of injury plagued seasons, so it's unfair to say he's no longer the player he used to be.

As for being the most overrated athlete in the history of sports...well, that's a pretty long history filled with a lot of athletes. I can't say who is the most overrated athlete in all the history of all the sports, but I don't think Vince Carter should be a candidate for that title.

[slam37]

I agree Vince Carter hasn't had a full season, or true oppurtunity as you would say, to "redeem" himself after his injury. Vince Carter has had 2 All-Star quality seasons, and 1 borderline season. Derrick Coleman had a good 5 All-Star calibre seasons (please don't compare points... Coleman averaged 20 for 5 or 6 years and put up 11 or so boards, along with the 3-4 assists Carter had, and with Coleman being a post player, who are almost always considered more valuable than 2's or 3's, he had several seasons arguably superior to any Vince has had so far). Now, Coleman has played out his career for the most part, and he is considered by many to be a bust... Overrated really. He was thought of as a premier big man early on. Yet his numbers never really lived up to say those of K. Malone, C Barkley, H. Olajuwon, D. Robinson, P. Ewing, just to name a few... The same way Carters numbers really don't match up to A. Iversons, K. Bryants, T. McGrady's or Paul Pierce's etc.. Yet Coleman was considered in the upper echelon of his class for his early career, like Carter has been so far. But the fact is, neither have statistically, nor winning-wise (a championship? I think not) have lived up to the class they were touted with the early part of their careers. Is Carter's career finished? Hell no, he COULD become the best player in the league, mch like he was expected to do, much like Derrick Coleman was. But until Carter BECOMES that player, with everyone already saying he is, well, isn't that what being overrated is, no disrespect to Vince Carter at all?

[Fresh8]

Lebron James is OVERRATED...he's getting all the hype!

I remember they were asking for his "23" high school jersey...before he hasn't done jack all in the pros!!

That's just gay...what has he done...not much....

[Swoosh]

Dont agree on Antoin Walker though, he is just a little overrated, he aint a bad player but it was in the playoffs that he finally realised a PF should get rebounds and play defense, it took him quite a few years didnt it ? He is a better than average baller but not quite a star i think.
Then about VC, i fully agree with thebob, he just had wast able to play at his maximum capacities. And even more true is that case about not being able to deliver to be the next Mike(what a sentence ). But we should start to worry, lebron is in the same category, or even higher, i read an article from espn and it said, he wont be able to deliver EVER, cuz ppl expect way too much of him, if he gets as good as mike or better only then he will have delivered but if he doesnt well, he will turn out to be seen as just another overhyped player though he might as wel be as good as kobe or tmac, or even just a lil' les good would make him a terrific player too i believe. And its idd hypocrite that the media is complaining about overrhyping while they are the ones that doing it, its always the same, make the game but avoid the blame, media, they f*cked everything up. Though without it we couldnt watch tv-games

[LeBron James]

to espn-fuck you!!.
vince carter is greatest player of world!chris webber is overrated camm ooon-he is underrated.
vince carter is doing dunks what is mad.he is good 3-point shooter too.he is not overrated!

[Rens]

I didn't know ESPN hired 2 year old editors.

Also, Carter has shown to have actually improved when he came back from his injury, he wasn't 100% but still he played a more complete game.

[slam37]

I've heard this "more complete" stuff before... I'd like you to show me where.

Vince Carter's 2001-2002 statistics - 24.7 PPG, 4.0 ASS, 5.2 REB, 1.6 STLS and .428 FG%...

Vince Carters 2002-2003 statistics - 20.9 PPG, 3.3 ASS, 4.4 REB, 1.1 STLS and .467 FG%...

You are telling me that his 2002-2003 seasons has shown him to be more complete? Despite the stats are lower in almost every category than the previous season (which isn't even Carter's best season)..

[Rens]

MPG: 39.8 -- 34.2

If you calculate his 02-03 stats to 39.8 minutes:
24.3 PPG, 3.8 APG (worse supporting cast), 5.1 RPG, 1.3 STLS, 1.1 BPG (compared to 0.72 the season before).
Those stats are almost the same, plus he shot better, but ofcourse stats don't mean everything. Carter was also an improved defender, which can't really be measured by stats, but he had more defensive rebounds in less minutes, and also more blocks. He didn't force as much offensively also.

[Colin]

MPG: 39.8 -- 34.2

If you calculate his 02-03 stats to 39.8 minutes:
24.3 PPG, 3.8 APG (worse supporting cast), 5.1 RPG, 1.3 STLS, 1.1 BPG (compared to 0.72 the season before).
Those stats are almost the same, plus he shot better, but ofcourse stats don't mean everything. Carter was also an improved defender, which can't really be measured by stats, but he had more defensive rebounds in less minutes, and also more blocks. He didn't force as much offensively also.

You had to watch the games to understand. He wasn't shooting those off-balance fade-away jumpers that he started jacking because he didn't want to be "only considered a dunker." He was getting his teammates involved, not always with the assist but with good passes that weren't assists.

Nobody claims that Grant Hill is still the next Jordan

Nobody with a brain still compares anyone to the next Jordan, it won't happen. And if it does, it won't be for a long time, and then there will be all the same talk as comparing Wilt to Shaq. I know VC said this, "I don't want to be the next Jordan, I want to be the first Vince Carter."

[Poollit]

LOL
VC is a good player, if he can get his D up and healthy again, I think (when the time comes) I won't be able to argue that Kobe is the best player in the L.

[Legin]

The guy that wrote this is an idiot and will forever be renamed Jeff Moron

[Boyk]

Vince Carter isnt a overrated athelete, the guy has hops, and is built solid.

But he has been a bust since he cried in the East Finals, maybe he cried out his heart and talent.

hehe, i would say at this time he is a overrated basketball player, due to the fact hes nowhere near as good as Jordan.

the Jordans of today(one plays lazy D though) are Kobe and T-Mac.
Vince shouldnt even be mentioned.

and dont bring up Lebron
hes done jack shit, so how can you judge, im hoping hes gonna be good, coz the Cavs are drafting him, but im not expecting big numbers.

[EGarrett]

My only question is...who said Mike Tyson was overrated?

He was arguably the most dominant heavyweight fighter ever before his life fell apart. He was a world champion at 19 (?)...and unified the three major belts in boxing. He knocked out two of his number-one-contenders a minute-and-a-half into the first round of each bout.

It's absolutely insane to discount someone's amazing past achievements because they can't produce when they're old. That's like that idiot who wanted to take David Robinson and Patrick Ewing out of the top 50 greatest players of all time.

[GloveGuy]

the Jordans of today(one plays lazy D though) are Kobe and T-Mac.

I don't think they're the Jordans of today, in a sense that they're close to what Jordan is in talent, because I still think that they're no where to where he was.

You could say that they, along with KG, Tim Duncan, and maybe Vince(since he did make a big show at the Olympics) are the ambassadors of the NBA, but they're still not as big in the world as Jordan was. Even with the Wizards, Jordan was one of the ambassadors, and definitely the most known throughout the world. I imagine he's done a lot for the NBA in this two year span.

What I'm trying to say is that, I think that Vince Carter is still up there with Kobe and T-Mac when it comes to how big in the world he is. Maybe Kobe's a little higher than the two, but Vince, though he hasn't been performing too well lately, left his mark on the world during the Olympics, which makes him highly popular.

[GloveGuy]

They've recently made a list of Most Overrated Players Of All Time and Dominique Wilkins is on the list! Wow...

[bballer22]

yeh and pistol pete is on it!!!??? who the hell is the guy who came up with this?? He knows shit about bball or its legents, better tell him to go and get SLAM Classic!

[Andrew]

They've recently made a list of Most Overrated Players Of All Time and Dominique Wilkins is on the list! Wow...

Funny they should do that, since Dominique Wilkins is probably one of the most underrated stars in NBA history. His omission from the 50 Greatest is just one example of how Nique rarely gets his due.