Nestled securely in his lair, deep beneath section 201 of the Meadowlands, our hero found himself in a quandary. The legs that dazzled millions dangled over one arm of an Ektorp sofa-provided by the local IKEA-as a tense neck and shoulders rested on the full grain leather of the opposite end. Aiming the remote at a patchwork of plasma screens, he limply paused, gazed and rewound. Pause, gaze and rewind. His glassy eyes failed to blink or see where it all went wrong.
Technically, Vincent Lamar Carter ‘played’ 76 games for the Nets in 2007-08, but as is oft the question with our listless millionaire, how many days did he show up for ‘work’? New Jersey failed to make the playoffs for the first time in years and despite posting career highs in multiple categories (FT, RPG and APG) Carter had what may have been his worst season since going on strike in Toronto. Now for a slew of NBA players, having to step forward on a gimpy ankle to fill the void of leadership left by a franchise savior and Hall of Famer are the seeds of an understandable despondence. However, these circumstances planted nothing but doubt in the minds of fans as they watched the Sultan of Sulk go thorough the motions. “Can he carry the load or will he want out now too? How will this affect him?” they asked, blithely unaware of how he affected the entire League.
