Vince Carter's career is undoubtedly brilliant. He is one of the brightest stars in the post-Jordan era, and he is loved by thousands of people. The four-time All-Star Ticket King is the best proof of his super high popularity.

But just as everyone's youth memory is inevitably ripped a few cracks, Carter's career has also had many unsatisfactory points. For example, he failed to achieve a good end in the Raptors, and for example, he has never reached the finals...

Speaking of which, Carter seemed to be born to miss the finals. Because every time, he seemed to have a plan and always missed the opportunity to play the finals.

In the 2004-05 season, Carter joined the Nets, but the Nets played the Finals in 2002 and 2003 just before he joined. As a result, after Carter joined, the Nets' best result in the playoffs was only the Eastern Conference semi-finals. He perfectly missed the Nets' peak period and missed the finals.

In the 2009-10 season, the Magic obtained Carter through trade. Coincidentally, the Magic had just reached the finals a season led by Howard. The Magic recruited Carter, and hoped that he could play the role of a big heart at a critical moment in the finals.

But unfortunately, the Magic were eliminated by the Celtics in the Eastern Conference Finals in the following season. Once again, Carter passed by perfectly in the finals.

In the 10-11 season, the Magic sent Carter to the Suns. It is worth mentioning that the Suns reached the Western Conference Finals the previous season, and they seemed to have the capital to play in the finals. Carter's dream seemed to be realized in the Suns.

But this season after Carter joined, the Suns only achieved 40 wins and 42 losses in total. Not to mention the finals, they were not even qualified to play in the playoffs...

In the 11-12 season, Carter joined the Mavericks as a free agent. At that time, the Mavericks were also very likely to reach the finals, because just one season before, the Mavericks had just successfully defeated the Heat and won the championship.

But when Carter joined, the Mavericks were unable to go further due to various reasons such as improper operation. His dream of playing in the finals was once again put on hold.

This is the unlucky Vince Carter. He will always join some teams that look like they can play in the finals. But after he joins, this team that can play in the finals will decline for various reasons.

This experience is certainly a pity, but for Carter, the most regrettable time was in 2001. The deepest scar in Carter's memory was left in the spring of 2001.

That was the closest and most regrettable thing Carter thought his career was the finals.

In the 00-01 season, this was probably the highest season in Allen Iverson's career.

He averaged 31.1 points, 3.8 rebounds, 4.6 assists and 2.5 steals per game, winning the scoring and steals king, leading the team to a record of 56 wins and 26 losses, ranking first in the Eastern Conference.

In addition, he also won the only MVP in his career, becoming the shortest MVP player in history.

Carter was also unsolvable that year, averaging 27.6 points, 5.5 rebounds, 3.9 assists, 1.5 steals and 1.1 blocks. He was elected as the All-Star vote leader for the second consecutive year, and his peak had just begun.

So in the Eastern Conference semifinals that year, Peak Carter and Peak Iverson met.

Neither of these two superheroes convinced each other. They started scoring competitions from the first game and took out all the inventory in their skills packages. The two of them scored unreasonable goals one after another.

In this round of the series, the two presented the scene of a fairy fighting for the fans. Iverson's words "In my eyes, the basket is as wide as the sea" came from this round of the series.

What many people don’t know is that Iverson just finished saying this, in the third game of the series, Carter responded to Iverson with 9 of 13 three-pointers and 50 points in the game, and replied after the game, "In my eyes, the basket is as wide as Lake Ontario."

From the performance of the stadium to the post-match trash talk, both sides refused to give in. This shows how intense the two of them played in this round of the series.

In the end, this round of the series was dragged into the tiebreak battle. This is where Carter's nightmare began.

In the seventh game of the series, the two teams were still hard to solve. Until the last two seconds of the game, they were still unable to decide the winner.

At that time, the Raptors where Carter was located were one point behind 76ers 87-88, and the Raptors' ball rights were all in the hands of Carter.

Carter ran around the top of the arc toward the bottom corner, received the ball and turned around and leaned back, jumping high. At that moment, the fans of the 76ers were almost suffocated.

But in the end, this high-arc shot hit the box, and the 183 fighter ran all over the court with the pop-up basketball, surrounded by Philadelphia fans.

But not many people noticed that in the shadow behind Iverson, Vince Carter was sad.

One ball makes the Raptors lose the opportunity to advance. One ball makes all the previous efforts go to nothing.

As we all know, that year, Ai finally led the team to the finals. Although the Lakers did not win the "ok combination", they have also entered the altar since then.

As for Carter, how many people remember him who played against Iverson in a similar way?

If that last goal is made, will Carter lead the team to the finals?

Unfortunately, there is no if in the basketball world. Carter has never been so close to the finals again, and the bottom corner on the left has become Carter's biggest nightmare in his career.

Since then, in every training session, Carter has practiced shooting at the bottom corner on the left.

He didn't know if he had a chance, he only knew that if the chance really came, he had to seize it.

This year, he joined the Grizzlies at the invitation of Link. Once again, Carter's team encountered a strong blockade before the Finals.

Carter doesn't want to be a burden. He wants to enter the finals, but he doesn't want to enter the finals, but hopes to contribute his strength in the Western Conference Finals.

If the opportunity appears again, he must hold it tightly.

Therefore, he frantically motivated himself in the bottom corner of the left. He knew that he might never encounter such shooting or such situations in his life, but he needed to use this method to motivate himself and let him burst out with greater strength in the next game.

He shot the basket tirelessly, hitting again and again. He has been waiting for an opportunity for 14 years.

However, Carter never thought that what he had first waited for was not the opportunity, but Link.

"Vins, it's been an hour, it's almost done." Link wiped the sweat from his forehead. He only helped Carter pick up the ball and found sweat all over.

"Uh...thank you for staying to practice with me, Link." Carter scratched his head embarrassedly. He was so devoted that he forgot the time.

Carter rushed to help pick up the basketballs scattered all over the floor and put them in, preparing to finish the extra training.

"You feel very good recently. The next game is in Oakland, don't be rude. We need your three-point range very much. Vince. With you here, we will definitely gain an advantage." Link said to Carter with a smile while helping to clean up.

After hearing what Link said, Carter, who was originally picking up the ball, suddenly stood there.

At the age of 38, he played as a substitute, averaged less than 10 points per game, and had no sense of existence. He practiced hard to seize an opportunity that may never appear.

He seemed to have been forgotten by the whole world, and only he was still urging himself. But now, someone said to him, "We need you very much."

Carter turned his head and looked at Link who was picking up the ball. For some reason, his mood to fight fate became stronger.

This year, he will definitely be able to break the curse of missing the finals!

"Don't worry, Link, I will do my best to assist you. Whenever I have the chance, I will take it seriously. Thank you for staying with me, hey, do you want to know why I always shoot at the bottom corner on the left?"

"Oh? Why?"

"Well... when it comes to why, I have to talk about the Eastern Conference semifinals in 2001. You know, I was as young as you at that time..."
Chapter completed!