Enjoying his 21st season in the league, Atlanta Hawks forward Vince Carter came into the league in a way most members of a basketball family don't expect themselves to. Drafted fifth overall by the Golden State Warriors and then traded for University of North Carolina teammate Antawn Jamison, who went a pick above to the Toronto Raptors. The trade allowed Carter to play alongside his cousin, Tracy McGrady, who had just finished his rookie season in the league.
It's odd enough to be able to play with a family member in the same roster, but to continue doing so for a long time is just much more than one can expect in a business like the NBA.
“At that time it was exciting. Obviously, as a rookie coming in and trying to figure out the league and the lay of the land I always had someone to talk to,” said Carter of his time with McGrady, according to Michael Scotto of The Athletic.
Yet Carter, now 41 years old and having outlasted his cousin's NBA service by nearly six years now, won't bother with the “what if” of the two remaining together in Toronto.
“We’ve talked about it before,” Carter admitted. “It’s always the “what if” obviously like everyone else asks, but it was meant in the cards to be that way, and he went on to have an amazing career and became the Hall of Fame player that he is.
Who’s to say it would happen that way with both of us together? You never know. That’s kind of the unknown, which everyone kind of wants to know but you know, it’s alright. It was fun while it lasted and it made for good competition when we played against each other.”
McGrady signed a six-year, $67.5 million deal to join the Orlando Magic after his third year in the league, a move he made by a multitude of reasons, but mainly disliking having to play a secondary role at shooting guard under Carter, a much more polished scorer.
The move would also allow him to play in his home state of Florida and link him with Grant Hill, though the latter's injuries kept that from happening. McGrady went on to become the NBA's Most Improved Player in 2001 and subsequently a two-time scoring champion in 2003 and 2004, while Carter was traded to the New Jersey Nets in 2004, setting up a successful partnership with Jason Kidd in the coming years.
Playing what if is always fun, but their careers might have turned out completely different if McGrady was still fighting to get on the court and Carter was put in a tough position of watching a member of his family struggle to tap into his full potential.
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