Who had the better rookie year? Vince Carter? or Lebron? My opinion...(surprise surprise) is that Vince did. He did stuff that nobody had ever seen before. His dunks were better than Lebrons as well.
Lebron by a slight margin, but it's unfair considering Lebron played 29 more games. He had much better statistics, but perhaps Vince would of had better statistics if he played 82 games but too bad he played in the lockout season. Lebron is the slightly better leader because Doug Christie was the co-leader of the team. Vince was the better highlight film, no doubt about that, and he was more unstoppable/dominant in the paint when he slashed. Skill wise, Lebron was the better passer. Vince had the better jump shot although he was a novice jump shooter at the time, and he also had better defense. Did everyone see Jalen Rose SCHOOLING Lebron one on one last season in a Raptors versus Cavaliers game? As for mentality/heart, I'm not too sure but I think their about the same.
You all gotta be joking with me...not only did carter have a better rookie season, melo had a better rookie season then LBJ...before you go and compare former players to LBJ take a look at melo and what he did...yutz
1st of all....I think Lebron had a better rookie season than Melo. If you make the argument that Melos team got in the playoffs....dont. Melo had better teammates. Were talking about rookie of the year...and Lebron exceeded all expectations and hes better at scoring, rebounding, passing, running the floor and most of all. hes better to watch. For those of you who think lebron or mello had a better rookie year than vince....find on Limewire or Kazaa some footage of his year. I found a Yinka Dare Mix on Limewire.."Vince Rookie Mix" or something. Its amazing. Vince was one of the all time best rookies.
I honestly think that LeBron had the better rookie campaign. Vince did come out strong... intimidating anyone who tried to step in his way... paving the way to him becoming the most popular player in the NBA (based on all-star voting, solely)... i think overall, he didn't accomplish what LeBron did... I don't want to go too deep into the amount of hype LBJ came in with... you all know about it.... and if you've got working eyes (even one functioning retna would do), you'd have seen him overcome all expections... even surpassing them (to me at least). I expected him to be good... just not THAT good. I honestly think he will turn into a player I'll be telling my grandkids about (no, i don't even have my own kids yet)... that, based on a glorious rookie season that we all were fortunate enough to witness. Numbers and highlights aside... my vote goes to the manchild.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting MaxaMillion711:</div><div class="quote_post">1st of all....I think Lebron had a better rookie season than Melo. If you make the argument that Melos team got in the playoffs....dont. Melo had better teammates. Were talking about rookie of the year...and Lebron exceeded all expectations and hes better at scoring, rebounding, passing, running the floor and most of all. hes better to watch. For those of you who think lebron or mello had a better rookie year than vince....find on Limewire or Kazaa some footage of his year. I found a Yinka Dare Mix on Limewire.."Vince Rookie Mix" or something. Its amazing. Vince was one of the all time best rookies.</div> Actually Carmelo was better at scoring and rebounding while playing less minutes, and he was arguably just as good at running the floor, that basically all Denver did, he wasn't as explosive, but could run the floor very well too. Best in terms of production or entertainment value. Look at some of these rookie numbers before you say that: <div class="quote_poster">Quote:</div><div class="quote_post">Duncan: 21.2ppg, 11.9rpg, 2.7apg, 54.9% fg, 0% 3pt, 66.2% ft, 39.1 mpg Magic: 18 ppg, 7.7 rpg, 7.3 apg, 53% fg, 22.6% 3pt, 81% ft, 36.3 mpg Jordan: 28.2 ppg, 6.5 rpg, 5.9 apg, 51.5% fg, 17.3% 3pt, 84.5% ft, 38.3 mpg Iverson: 23.5 ppg, 4.1 rpg, 7.5 apg, 41.6% fg, 34.1% 3pt, 70.2% ft, 40.1 mpg Bird: 21.3 ppg, 10.4 rpg, 4.5 apg, 47.4% fg, 40.6% 3pt, 83.6% ft, 36 mpg Olajuwon: 20.6 ppg, 11.9 rpg, 1.4 apg, 53.8% fg, 61.3% ft 35.5 mpg David Robinson: 24.3 ppg, 12 rpg, 2.0 apg, 53.1% fg, 73.2% ft, 36.6 mpg. Elton Brand: 20.1 ppg, 10.0 rpg, 1.9 apg, 48.2fg%, 68.5ft%, 37 mpg Damon Stoudamire: 19.0 ppg, 4 rpg, 9.3 apg, 42.6% fg, 39.5% 3pt, 79.7% ft, 40.9 mpg. Walter Davis: 24.2 ppg, 6.0 rpg, 3.4 apg, 52.6% fg, 83.0% ft, 32 mpg Terry Cummings: 23.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.5 apg, 52.3% fg, 70.9% ft, 36.2 mpg Ralph Sampson: 21.0 ppg, 11.1 rpg, 2.0 apg, 52.3% fg, 25.0% 3pt, 66.1% ft, 32.8 mpg Shaq: 23.4 ppg, 13.9 rpg, 1.9 apg, 56.2% fg, 59.2% ft, 37.9 mpg Mitch Richmond: 22.0 ppg, 5.9 rpg, 4.2 apg, 46.8% fg, 36.7% 3pt, 81.0% ft, 34.4 mpg Kareem: 28.8 ppg, 14.5 rpg, 4.1 apg, 51.8% fg, 65.3% ft, 43.1 mpg Oscar Robertson: 30.5 ppg, 10.1 rpg, 9.7 apg, 47.3% fg, 82.2% ft, 42.7 mpg. Bernard King: 24.4 ppg, 9.5 rpg, 2.4 apg, 47.9% fg, 67.7% ft, 39.1 mpg Rick Barry: 25.7 ppg, 10.6 rpg, 2.2 apg, 43.9% fg, 86.2% ft, 37.4 mpg Wilt: 37.6 ppg, 27 rpg, 2.3 apg, 46.1% fg, 58.2% ft, 46.4 mpg Elgin Baylor: 24.9 ppg, 15.0 rpg, 4.1 apg, 40.8% fg, 77.7% ft, 40.8 mpg Geoff Petrie: 24.8 ppg, 3.4 rpg, 4.8 apg, 44.3% fg, 77.2% ft, 37 mpg Walt Bellamy: 31.6 ppg, 19 rpg, 2.7 apg, 51.9% fg, 64.4% ft, 42.3 mpg Terry Dischinger: 25.5 ppg, 8.0 rpg, 3.1 apg, 51.2% fg, 77% ft, 40.2 mpg Earl Monroe: 24.3ppg, 5.7 rpg, 4.3 apg, 45.3% fg, 78.1% ft, 36.7 mpg Dave Cowens: 17.0 ppg, 15.0 rpg, 2.8 apg, 42.2% fg, 73.2% ft, 38.0 mpg Sidney Wicks: 24.5 ppg, 11.5 rpg, 4.3 apg, 42.7% fg, 71.0% ft, 39.6 mpg</div>
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting Raps4Life15:</div><div class="quote_post">You all gotta be joking with me...not only did carter have a better rookie season, melo had a better rookie season then LBJ...before you go and compare former players to LBJ take a look at melo and what he did...yutz</div> err...in which way did carter have a better rookie season? lebron beat carter in practically every catagory that they have a stat for: lebron rookie year - 21ppg, 6apg, 5 rpg vince rookie year - 18ppg, 3apg, 5rpg lebron had a slight edge in steals, vince had a slight edge in fg% cleveland went from the worst team in the league to battling for a playoff spot, while the raptors didnt improve much at all. granted the east is much weaker now...but if you watched any cavs games, you could clearly tell they were a much improved team. the raps still stank back then. you make it sound like its a no-brainer. as if you'd have to be an idiot to think lebron had a better year...how so? lebron had a fantastic rookie campaign, sure it could be aruged that vince had a better one...but its not anything like the way you put it.
They were about equal. LeBron came out with a team oriented game similar to Magic and Bird. Carter reminded me more of Jordan. It's not fair to compare the numbers. But where do they go from here. I think Vince has slowly but steadily become less relevant as he shoots more threes and dominates less.
Vince carter had a 50 game year season and Carter had a lot of offensive players in 99 n bron' has no offensive players on his team, other than himself! and only 3 point diferential in points! And I guarantee u if it wasnt lockout vince would have been an all-star like tim duncan did in his rookie year.
People make too big a deal about Lebron's rookie season. Many players in history had more impressive rookie seasons, (as pointed out by OG15). On a grand scale of things Lebron's season really doesn't even register with the all time great rookie seasons. I would even say Damon Stoudamire had a better rookie season than Lebron, back when he was still a Raptor: 19.0 ppg 9.3 apg 4.0 rpg
I think that LeBron James had the better rookie season, he played 29 games mroe than Vince according to chungster and he took his team from a 17 win season before he arrived to a 35 win season thats more than double what they had the previous season.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting buckets_42:</div><div class="quote_post">I think that LeBron James had the better rookie season, he played 29 games mroe than Vince according to chungster and he took his team from a 17 win season before he arrived to a 35 win season thats more than double what they had the previous season.</div> He played 29 more games because it was a lockout year....Vince Carter wasnt injured in his rookie year...he played all 50 games of the season. Its not vince's fault that bron played 29 more games than vince wen it was lockout... and by the raptors went 23-27 in that season and cleveland went 35-47! No more comments!
Cavs win % was : .43 Raps % was: .46 But that is not all the point. Vince and Lebron cant control what team they are drafted to. Vince was so much like Jordan in his rookie year, it was awesome. I watched an interview with vince and he said "I dont want to be like Jordan. I want to be Vince Carter. In 10 or 15 years I want people to be saying "that kid is the next vince carter." When i watched the high school dunk contest with lebron, the commentators said that lebron was like the next vince carter. they are both similar players, but rookie year wise, I enjoyed Vince's tons more.
I think Vince had a better rookie year than LeBron did, they were hyping up LeBron even before he got into the league, Vince was just considered one of the rest of the rookies. And for Vince to make that much impact when he wasnt considered to be anything makes a huge statement. I saw LeBron commercial even before he entered the NBA. Proving wise, Vince did more, he had to make himself be known. All spotlight was on LeBron before he even started his first game.
<div class="quote_poster">Quoting intrepid1983:</div><div class="quote_post">Proving wise, Vince did more, he had to make himself be known. All spotlight was on LeBron before he even started his first game.</div> Wouldn't that be an advantage for Vince, if anything??? I mean... if everyone knows about Bron coming in... trying to steal the show... you'd think they'd press him harder than someone who is "just another rookie." You also gotta keep in mind... Lebron accomplished everything he did, while adjusting from HIGH SCHOOL competition... as opposed to a few years in College as a bridge. I find it tough to overlook what LBJ did at such a young age, with such high expectations weighing against him.
C'mon guys. Vince had a better rookie season than Lebron? You got to be joking me. This year is the only year that Vince averaged 20 5 and 5 (among 6 players in the league to do this). When did Lebron average that? In his rookie season. You can even argue that Lebron had a bigger impact than Vince did in his rookie season on the NBA in general. Ticket sales went up, all types of highschoolers started declaring for the NBA etc..remember this kid was hyped back when he was a junior in high school. The only thing Carter did better than Lebron in his rookie season was dunking. He kills him in that category but....I don't base my opinions on that fact. Also, Vince did not have to play two totally different positions in his rookie season. Can you tell me that he would be successful as a point guard and a shooting guard? I think not. Add in the fact that Lebron did this in what was to be his freshman season in college just kills the entire arguement.
LBJ had a better rookie year, VC was more exciting (dunks wise, explosiveness wise) VC led the raps to the 9th spot i believe.... statistically, LBJ is better in almost every category (except maybe blocks) Vince Carter didn't even have HALF the hype that Lebron had, infact, he didn't hit it big till the allstar weekend in his 2nd year...he was seldomnly known but didnt hit superstardom till that weekend....his rookie was a dunk fest, it was amazing to watch those games cause he'd do something exciting EVERY game....it was usually driving the lane or midrange J's.... he led the raptors from a 16-66 record to playoff contention... but i think lebron had a better year....he had muc much much more expectations, so many people that thought he'd fail as well, or wanted to see him fail this is a kid makign the leap from HIGHSCHOOL and avging a 20-5-5 season KG didnt do that, Kobe didnt do that nor did any of the highschoolers that are allstars today hes a first and that right there should set him apart not to mention all the pressure on him i find his game awkward but its only his first year and everyone depends on thier explosiveness more then anythign in thier first year in the years to come he will develop a great overall game and this is why hes so hyped up he lived up the the hype
