Originally published in SLAM 73
Reggie Jackson is still known as Mr. October, right? (Don’t worry, I’m going somewhere with this.) Then Vince Carter absolutely has to be Mr. August. Maybe even Mr. July, too.
Think about it. Freddy Weis. That alley-oop windmill at the Gauchos gym. Every summer, Dr. Funk unleashes some new hotness (thanks, J) that would blow Dikembe Mutombo’s mind, knees and vocal cords if it happened in February (as it did, once…). This summer was no different. His charity game, Olympic qualifying. Every summer Vince is healthy, and every summer he unleashes his wrath on unsuspecting foreigners, streetballers and benchwarmers. It’s not their fault or anything, he just needs to vent.
So while his Raptormates can only hope he one day becomes Mr. June, Vince has to be content ruling the dog days of summer. And everyone accepts it. Enables it, even. Look at Tim Thomas here, giving up a sure open-court banger to bounce it off the board to the Human Summer Blockbuster. The Ivey behind the back that Kidd redirected off the glass against DR may have been even iller, but the charity run happened first. And we just had to give Tim Thomas some love for doing something right.
Let’s face it, every decision Vince makes is considered wrong—seriously, how can going to your college graduation actually be a bad thing? Dude’s gotta get props for something. So Vince, the summer is yours. Hope you enjoyed it.
