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Vinsanity isn’t a must-see highlight of All-Star weekend anymore but Vince Carter is still a very productive and valuable player that’s quietly having a great season in Dallas.  A great season that Mavs coach Carlisle thinks makes Vince a HOF candidate

The way Vince  has reinvented himself with us — as an off-the-bench, instant-offense, playmaker, defender, all-around guy — I think validates him as a Hall of Fame candidate. He’s an eight-time All-Star.” – Dallas coach Rick Carlisle

Last night, the off-the-bench playmaker had 22 points on 7-13 shooting (5-7 from 3) 9 rebounds and the game winning 3 pointer.   The cherry on top to make this performance even sweeter is that he passed Gary Payton on the all-time NBA scoring list placing him at #28.  The only active players with more points are Kobe, KG, Dirk, Paul Pierce and Ray Allen.   Some might say the names i’m about to rattle off did more in other aspects of the game or were bigger “winners” than Vince but the fact that Carter recently passed up these names on an all-time list has to earn him some HOF consideration.

Payton, Bird, Greer, Bellamy, Pettit, DRobinson, Gervin, Stockton, King…

I’ve always had issues with the HOF selections and personally believe that more weight should be put into contribution to the sport and individual recognition as opposed to longevity and team accolades. I’m with Rick when it comes to Vince.

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