Chapter 1207: Chapter 382: Madness Before the Trade Deadline
After the game, Mr. 81 from the Raptors, Jalen Rose, couldn’t hold back any longer and exposed Carter on the spot: "Vince is a good teammate, but I increasingly don’t understand him. He once lifted Sam (the Raptors’ head coach) after an argument and slammed him hard onto the massage mat. Even just now, he took the initiative to reveal the team’s tactics to Roger!"
On the other hand, Roger didn’t plan to help Carter either, although he didn’t hold a grudge against Carter, so he was vague: "I don’t know, how you want to interpret Vince is your business."
But the reporters knew, with Roger’s character, if he didn’t directly deny it, that was as good as admitting it.
Vince Carter, pleasing neither side, the once illustrious Canadian flyer falls to the lowest point of his career.
He doesn’t know where he went wrong, clearly, it was the Raptors who disgusted him first. He just wants to enjoy victories with a team willing to fight for a championship, nothing more. And now? He’s being pointed at by everyone.
Finally, Carter summarized the reason—he wasn’t a winner.
If he were a winner, he could speak like Roger does.
No matter where he’s dumped next, he’ll fight to the death to become a winner!
Ironically, this strong competitive spirit was precisely what Vince Carter lacked during his time with the Raptors.
And now, when he’s actively wanting to leave the Raptors, the missing piece is instead filled.
The Raptors and Carter, destined to never have the best of each other.
Roger didn’t know how this matter affected Vince Carter’s career trajectory. Originally, the New Jersey Nets were very close to trading for Carter, but because the "tactical leak incident" was thoroughly exposed, and its influence was several times what it was in the original timeline (since it happened with Roger), the Nets backed out.
They wondered if Carter would still play seriously after arriving in New Jersey.
Looking at the news of the New Jersey Nets withdrawing from the trade, seeing the New York Knicks frantically shopping for wings, seeing Caron Butler’s hot sales, Roger lamented to Spoelstra on the team bus: "This year’s mid-season trades might be the most explosive ever, the whole league has gone crazy to deal with us."
In the next half month, trade rumors continued to take up headlines in major media outlets.
And when February arrived, those long-buried trades finally awaited their official announcement day.
On February 1, 23 days before the 2005 trade deadline, the Toronto Raptors decided to trade away Vince Carter and received Tarik Abdul-Wahad, Jerry Stackhouse, Josh Howard, and a 2007 first-round pick from the Dallas Mavericks.
Dirk Nowitzki and Shaquille O’Neal got a best-team-level perimeter teammate!
On February 3, 21 days before the trade deadline, the Los Angeles Lakers traded away Jumaine Jones and a 2006 first-round pick to get Caron Butler from the Miami Heat.
On February 6, 18 days before the trade deadline, the New York Knicks traded away Jamal Crawford to get Shawn Battier and Donté Jones from the Memphis Grizzlies.
The playoffs haven’t started yet, but the contending teams all made a mid-season upgrade to combat the Warriors.
The desire of this league to overthrow the Kings’ dominance has reached its peak.
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Vince Carter played two games in Dallas, scoring 39 points in one and 42 points in the other. It proved that he was indeed neglecting his duties in Toronto. His strength remains strong, and leaving Toronto, the flyer is simply reborn. I think spring has arrived for the cowboys in the West. — "Dallas News Morning".
I don’t care what kind of person he is, I only care if he can play basketball and contribute to victory. In this respect, Caron Butler is the player we’ve been dreaming of. — Kobe Bryant discussing Caron Butler, who indirectly caused the "gun incident".
Shaun Battier, a product of Duke, is almost the wing Lenny Wilkens dreamed of: tough, smart, low-usage but high shooting percentage, that’s Shaun. Whether the world acknowledges it or not, we are closer to a championship. — "The New York Times".
I can’t remember the last time the NBA experienced such a crazy mid-season trade, maybe this is the craziest one. This points out one thing: other league teams can’t wait to overthrow Roger, and they don’t want to wait another season. — Charles Barkley on his show discussing the consecutive major mid-season trades.
The Kings’ crown has never been so endangered. — "Sports Illustrated".