50 Greatest NBA Players Without A Championship (Updated Through 2015-16)
By Phil Watson
27. Vince Carter
Toronto Raptors 1998-2004, New Jersey Nets 2004-09, Orlando Magic 2009-10, Phoenix Suns 2010-11, Dallas Mavericks 2011-14, Memphis Grizzlies 2014-16
The Golden State Warriors drafted Vince Carter out of North Carolina with the fifth overall pick in the 1998 Draft, but he didn’t stay long.
The Warriors swapped him to the Raptors for the rights to No. 4 overall pick Antawn Jamison, Carter’s college teammate. Decisions such as these explain 12 straight non-playoff seasons by the Bay.
Carter was a smash hit in Toronto. He was the 1998-99 Rookie of the Year and a two-time All-NBA pick with the Raptors and was also chosen for four All-Star games. Carter finished 10th in the MVP voting in 1999-2000, as well.
In 2000, Carter led Toronto into the postseason for the first time in franchise history, but they were swept in the first round by the New York Knicks. In 2001, The Raptors got by the Knicks in a Game 5, but lost to the Philadelphia 76ers by one in a road Game 7 in the second round.
Toronto was bounced in a first-round Game 5 in 2002 by the Detroit Pistons and stumbled to 24 wins in 2002-03 as Carter missed half the season with injuries. Even a healthy Carter wouldn’t get the Raptors back to the playoffs in 2004.
Then it got weird.
Carter admittedly tanked his way out of T.O., forcing a December 2004 trade to the Nets for three players and two first-round picks, although one of the players—Alonzo Mourning—refused to report.
With the Nets, Carter was a four-time All-Star.
New Jersey was swept in the first round by the Miami Heat in 2005, but in 2006 got through the Indiana Pacers in the first round before losing in five to the eventual champion Heat in the second round.
Another second-round exit followed in 2007 after the Nets beat Toronto in the first round. They fell in six games to the Cleveland Cavaliers.
New Jersey missed the playoffs in 2008 and 2009 and on draft night in 2009 was dealt to Orlando along with Ryan Anderson.
In 2010 with the Magic, Carter got through the second round for the first time as Orlando swept the Charlotte Bobcats and Atlanta Hawks in the first two rounds before falling in six games to the Boston Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals.
In December 2010, Carter was part of a six-player trade that sent him to Phoenix. The Suns missed the playoffs and once the lockout ended in December 2011, Phoenix waived the artist once known as Vinsanity.
He signed as a free agent with the Mavericks three days later, but Dallas was swept in the first round by the Oklahoma City Thunder. After missing the playoffs in 2013, the Mavs were back in 2014, pushing the eventual champion San Antonio Spurs to a Game 7 before losing in the first round.
Carter signed with the Grizzlies as a free agent in July 2014, but the club was eliminated by the eventual champion Golden State Warriors in the second round of the playoffs.
In 2015-16, Carter was pressed into service as a starter for the injury-battered Grizzlies in the playoffs, where they fell in four games to the Spurs.
Carter is signed through the 2016-17 season.
In 18 seasons, Carter has averaged 18.8 points, 4.6 rebounds, 3.4 assists and 1.1 steals in 32.4 minutes per game, shooting .439/.373/.800.
Carter is currently sixth all-time with 1,937 made 3-pointers.
The current tally on Carter’s playoff career:
NBA Finals: 0-0
Conference Finals: 0-1
Conference Semifinals: 1-4
First Round: 5-6
Next: 26. Couldn’t Two-Step To A Title