Vince Carter continues to relish his role as a mentor to the NBA's younger generation. After his team fell to the Utah Jazz on Friday night, the Atlanta Hawks forward offered some encouraging words to Rudy Gobert, who wasn't selected for this year's All-Star Game despite playing the best basketball of his six-year career.
— Utah Jazz (@utahjazz) February 2, 2019
Gobert, averaging career highs across the board of 15.2 points, 12.8 rebounds, and 2.2 assists this season while doubling as the league's most impactful rim-protector, made headlines on Friday for his emotional reaction to not being named an All-Star reserve. Recalling a conversation Friday morning he had with his mother upon learning the news, the 7-foot-2 Frenchman began tearing up before abruptly ending his interview with local media early. He responded to such obvious disappointment with triumph, scoring 25 points and grabbing 13 rebounds on perfect 7-of-7 shooting in Utah's win over Atlanta later that night.
Carter, it bears mentioning, reacted much differently to Gobert's emotions than other notable NBA players. The Golden State Warriors' Draymond Green and Andre Iguodala, for example, each posted tweets poking fun at Gobert. The Jazz star got the last laugh on Green, though, playing coy when asked to respond to his criticism on twitter, instead bringing up Green's infamous NSFW gaffe on Snapchat back in 2016.
Carter, the NBA's oldest player at 42 years old, has also emerged as one of its most beloved in the second half of his likely Hall-of-Fame career. Needless to say, the league will lose a powerful advocate of sportsmanship, camaraderie, and love the game when he finally hangs it up at season's end.
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