USA TODAY International Edition
Atlanta counting on old Carter to help Trae Young
ATLANTA – Vince Carter spent the weekend before his 21st NBA training camp following Tiger Woods around nearby East Lake Golf Club. Carter and Woods know each other, having both been represented by agent Mark Steinberg several years ago. After Woods’ round Saturday, they spoke briefly. Sunday, Carter was witness on the 18th green to one of the most striking images in sports as thousands of fans spilled onto the fairway behind Woods as he wrapped up his 82nd PGA Tour title. What struck Carter most about the experience of watching him win for the first time in five years was just how deep the affection among fans was for Woods, how desperate they were to see him perform at this stage of his career. “In his day, 50 percent of the people loved him and 50 percent hated him because he was so doggone good,” Carter said. “Now probably 99.5 percent of people love him because they’re just in awe of 42 years old and beating some of the best.” Carter, to a certain extent, has experienced a similar phenomenon as he continues on in the NBA at age 41, this year with the Atlanta Hawks. He knows what it’s like to be a superstar who saw fans turn on him when things didn’t work out in Toronto the way anyone would have drawn it up. He knows what it’s like to grind through injuries and age, driving himself to come back and compete long after it stopped making sense to most people. And as his playing days wind down, he has become far more appreciated for the career he put together than criticized for what he wasn’t able to do. “I’m thankful to walk into an arena on the road and still have fans call your name, see my jersey, my high school jersey, whatever the case may be,” Carter said. “I’m very thankful. There’s not a lot of guys in NBA history who get the opportunity to play (at this age).” Unlike Woods, Carter no longer has the ability to remind fans of what he was 20 years ago very often, if ever. Basketball doesn’t work like that. In fact, he might not be on the court much at all this season in Atlanta, given the franchise’s focus on its young core. But Carter still inspires awe and admiration in a different way now, and not just because he’s simply still here. At this stage of his career, the why means as much as anything. In signing with Atlanta, Carter knew his primary goal would not be winning the championship that eluded him but rather mentoring a team being built around rookie point guard Trae Young (age 20), second-year forward John Collins (21) and emerging wing Taurean Prince (24). Beginning last season, when the Hawks missed the playoffs for the first time since 2007, Atlanta’s front office hasn’t been coy about what it’s trying to do here. While they’re careful not to call it tanking and don’t plan on following the same path as the Philadelphia 76ers, the Hawks are banking on a future led by their current young players and future draft picks (they could have as many as three in the 2019 lottery). Carter is there to make sure all of them understand how to be a professional, what it takes to grind through 82-game seasons and the importance of developing good habits on and off the court. “They say lead by your actions, but I’m going to (speak up) to these guys,” Carter said. “I want these guys to understand their importance. This is the foundation of what you want to be a part of in a couple years. So, OK, after two weeks maybe we lost four in a row. Are you tired of losing? Let’s fix the problem. Let’s fix our approach. Let’s go a little harder, whatever the case may be, that’s what we’re trying to change, which will hopefully roll over.” That’s especially valuable for Young, who hadn’t even been born when Carter was drafted No. 5 overall (the same as Young) in 1998. Though vastly different kinds of players, Carter is as well-positioned as anyone to understand what it’s going to be like for him as the face of a developing franchise and a player who will produce plenty of highlights and put fans in the seats but also be a lightning rod for critics who don’t think his style is built to win in the playoffs. “I just want to give him some things to think about,” said Carter, whose locker is next to Young’s at the team’s practice facility in north Atlanta. “Times are different. That social media thing has become a thorn in the side of athletes or people in general, not just athletes. We’ll try to incorporate the things I know with the New Age things because I didn’t have to worry about it. “But the common denominator is, do you want to be a superstar? Well let’s go about it the superstar way. Let’s walk the straight line and figure it out and put that with your talents you already have and see what we come up with. These guys have created something; now we’re just trying to mold it to be something great.” That this role fulfills Carter after scoring 24,868 points and eight All-Star appearances, that it keeps him motivated to maintain excellent physical shape at an age where it’s not always easy or pain-free to do so, partly explains why there will be near-universal respect for him from opposing fans and players as he crisscrosses the NBA for the 21st, and perhaps last, time. “He’s just more in a giving mind-set,” Prince said. “That’s what a lot of us need being how up and down the league is, being that we still have family things we deal with, we have lives outside of the court. He can be somebody that we talk to about that. He’s experienced a lot. “When you come into the NBA there’s a right way to do things and a wrong way to do things, and you’re going to do wrong things. That’s life, period. We make mistakes. But it’s good to have someone around who allows you not to make as many.” At some point soon, Carter knows it will be over. When he stops getting offers to play or decides he’s had enough, he’s going to go into the broadcast booth full time, something he pursued this past summer at the NBA Summer League. But for now, he still has more to give. And even if it’s mostly as a mentor on a team unlikely to make the playoffs, getting to watch him grind into his 40s makes the NBA more fun now than it will be when he leaves.