Nine Hundred and Sixty-Nine: For an Opportunity

Vince Carter's career is undoubtedly brilliant. He is one of the brightest stars in the post-Jordan era and is loved by thousands of people. The four-time All-Star voting champion is the best proof of his popularity.

But just as everyone's youth memories inevitably have a few cracks, Carter's career also had a lot of dissatisfaction. For example, he failed to achieve a happy ending with the Raptors, and for example, he never reached the finals...

Speaking of which, Carter seems to be destined to miss the finals. Because every time, he seemed to have a plan and always just missed the opportunity to play in the finals.

In the 04-05 season, Carter joined the Nets, but the Nets had played in the Finals in 2002 and 2003 before he joined. As a result, after Carter joined, the Nets' best performance in the playoffs was only the Eastern Conference semifinals. He perfectly missed the Nets' peak period and missed the Finals.

In the 09-10 season, the Magic acquired Carter through a trade. Coincidentally, the Magic had just reached the Finals under Howard's leadership the previous season. The Magic recruited Carter in the hope that he could play a central role at critical moments in the Finals.

But unfortunately, the following season, the Magic were eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals. Once again, Carter missed the finals perfectly.

In the 10-11 season, the Magic sent Carter to the Suns. It is worth mentioning that the Suns reached the Western Conference Finals the previous season. They seemed to have the capital to play in the Finals. Carter's dream seemed to be realized in the Suns.

But this season after Carter joined, the Suns only achieved a total of 40 wins and 42 losses. Let alone the finals, they are not even qualified to play in the playoffs...

In the 11-12 season, Carter joined the Mavericks as a free agent. At that time, the Mavericks were also very hopeful of reaching the finals, because just the previous season, the Mavericks had just successfully defeated the Heat's Big Three and won the championship.

But when Carter joined, the Mavericks had not been able to go further due to various reasons such as improper operation. His dream of playing in the finals was once again put on hold.

This is the unlucky Vince Carter, who always joins teams that look like they can make the NBA Finals. But after he joins, this team that can play in the finals will decline due to various reasons.

Although such an experience is very regrettable, for Carter, the most regrettable one was in 2001. The deepest scar in Carter's memory was left in the spring of 2001.

That was the closest and most regrettable time in Carter's career to the finals.

The 00-01 season was probably the most glorious season of Allen Iverson's career.

He averaged 31.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game, winning the scoring and steal titles. He led the team to a record of 56 wins and 26 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference.

In addition, he also won the only MVP in his career, becoming the shortest MVP player in history.

Carter was also unsolvable that year, averaging 27.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks per game. He was elected to the All-Star vote for the second consecutive year, and his peak had just begun.

So in the Eastern Conference semifinals that year, peak Carter and peak Iverson met.

Neither of these two superheroes obeys the other;

The scoring competition started from the first game, and they used all the inventory in their skill packs. The two of them scored unreasonable and unreasonable goals one after another.

In this round of the series, the two provided the fans with a fairy-tale fight scene. Iverson's phrase "In my eyes, the basket is as wide as the ocean" came from this series.

What many people don't know is that just after Iverson said this, in the third game of the series, Carter responded to Iverson with 9 of 13 three-pointers and 50 points in the game, and responded after the game. One sentence, "In my eyes, the basket is as wide as Lake Ontario."

From on-court performance to post-match trash talk, both sides were at odds with each other. This shows how fiercely the two played in this series.

In the end, this series was dragged into a tiebreaker. And this is where Carter's nightmare begins.

In the seventh game of the series, the two teams were still inseparable. Until the last 2 seconds of the game, there was no winner.

At that time, Carter's Raptors were one point behind the 76ers 87-88, and the Raptors had the ball. The life and death of both teams are entirely in the hands of Carter alone.

Carter ran around the top of the arc to the left corner, received the pass, turned around, leaned back, and jumped high. At that moment, the 76ers fans almost suffocated.

But in the end, the high-arc shot missed the frame. The 183-inch fighter ran across the court holding the basketball that popped out, and was surrounded by Philadelphia fans who worshiped him.

But not many people noticed that in the shadow behind Iverson, Vince Carter looked sad.

One goal cost the Raptors the chance to advance. One ball wiped out all the previous efforts.

As we all know, that year, AI finally led the team to the finals. Although the Lakers did not overturn the "OK combination", they can be regarded as a god since then.

As for Carter, how many people remember him who played neck and neck with Iverson?

If the last shot had been made, would Carter have led the team to the finals?

Unfortunately, there are no ifs in the basketball world. Carter has never been so close to the finals, and the left corner has become the biggest nightmare of Carter's career.

From then until now, in 2014, every training session, Carter would practice shooting in the left corner.

He didn't know if he still had a chance. He only knew that if the opportunity really came, he had to seize it.

This year, he joined the Grizzlies at Link's invitation. Once again, Carter's team encountered strong resistance before the finals.

Carter doesn't want to be a burden. He wants to reach the Finals, but he doesn't want to lie in the Finals. Instead, he hopes to contribute in the Western Conference Finals.

If the opportunity presented itself again, he would definitely hold on to it.

Therefore, he whipped himself crazily in the left corner. He knows that he may never encounter such a shot and such a situation again in his life, but he needs to use this method to motivate himself so that he can burst out with greater power in the next game.

He shot the ball tirelessly and hit it again and again. For 14 years, I have been waiting for an opportunity.

However, Carter never imagined that the first person he waited for was not the opportunity, but Link.

"Vince, it's been an hour, almost." Link wiped the sweat from his forehead. He was covered in sweat just by helping Carter pick up the ball.

"Um...thank you for staying with me to practice, Link." Carter scratched his head sheepishly. He was so engrossed in practicing that he lost track of time.

Carter rushed to help pick up the basketballs scattered on the ground and put them away, preparing to end the extra practice.

"You've been feeling very good lately. Don't be soft on the next game in Oakland. We really need your three-point shooting range, Vince. With you here, we will definitely gain an advantage." Link smiled while helping to clean up. Then he said to Carter.

Hearing what Link said, Carter, who was picking up the ball, suddenly froze on the spot.

38 years old, playing as a substitute, averaging less than 10 points per game, and has no sense of presence. Practicing hard for an opportunity that may never come along.

He seems to have been forgotten by the whole world, and only he is still pushing himself. But now, someone said to him, "We need you very much."

Carter turned his head and glanced at Link who was picking up the ball. For some reason, his desire to fight fate became even stronger.

This year, he will definitely be able to break the curse of missing the finals!

"Don't worry Link, I will do my best to assist you. As long as I have the opportunity, I will take advantage of it. Thank you for staying with me. Hey, do you want to know why I always shoot in the left corner? "

"Oh why?"

"Well... Speaking of why, I have to talk about the 2001 Eastern Conference Semifinals. You know, I was as young as you at that time..."

Two men with a huge age gap, sitting on the wooden floor of the training hall, returned to that exciting spring of 2001.

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