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<< Previous Next >> -------------------- February 15, 2003 (Not quite) the last laugh In Toronto last night, the Golden State Warriors brought some California heat to the cold Jurassic park that is the Raptors' home Arena. The Air canada Centre. Indeed times have been warmer at the Centre and we're not just talking about the weather. Sure you can still see Air Canada flying...just not from the hardwood. Pearson Airport is more like. When Golden State rolled through town for a business meeting with the local squad, all you're thinking of at the end of this one might have been "maybe we were wrong". Wrong about what you ask? Well that depends on which side you were when Antawn Jamison and Vince Carter were swapped for each other, back in '98. In their meeting the Warriors downed the Raptors 118-114, with Jamison leading the way with 32 points and 8 rebounds. Vince Carter though, wasn't even the leading scorer for his team. He had 20 points to Voshon Lenard's 26. If you just take this year in consideration, then yes Glen Grunwald's parting with Jamison has been unfruitful. I mean Jamison has started and played everyone of his team's games, he's the star, and he got the digits to back up his case: 22 points and 7 rebounds on average. For Vince Carter however it seems to be a miracle whenever you don't hear an injury report on him each time the final buzzer of a game sounds. Let's get it straight. The popular knowledge, the concensus, the universal hoops belief, and/or required knowledge, which the playground ballers, amateur ballers, pro ballers every and anywhere, know is that: Vince Carter is better than Antawn Jamison. One of basketball's top 10 greatest forces is on the Toronto roster, regardless of current circumstances or setbacks. I mean this is suppose to be a good year for Jamison, does it compare to a good year for Vince Carter? You'll have an easier time getting David Stern to say he doesn't want basketball as the national past time, than getting a yes to this answer. Sure there's the knock on Carter about his attitude towards workouts. But he has still done more than Jamison. Sure Vince has his flaws, but please do not go back to the trade. It was one sided, and will still be in 5 years. Those early years by Vince helped establish a basketball franchise in Canada. It's worthy to note that he's also simply the most talented and most skilled player. It's not out of the question to think the Raptors might have repatriated to the U.S like the Grizzlies did. The bottom line is criticize Vince but don't compare him to a still soul searching Warrior like Jamison, who is a few laps behind. << Previous Next >> Back to archives main Back to top
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