In regards to Wilt, and pace of the game, the year he averaged 50 ppg, their team pace was 131.1, their ORtg was an abysmal 94.5 The fastest paced team this year is the Bucks at 105, and the worst ORtg is the Warriors at 105.2
He's not wrong. All you can do is play the game the right way and give your team a chance to win. If the shots fall they fall. If not then move to the next one.
LeBron James wasn't "the next Jordan" IMO. He was a very different type of player. He ended up probably as great as Jordan, but I don't think he was a "Jordan-type." And Kobe Bryant was better than Vince Carter but I think Carter was much more alike to Jordan stylistically. I didn't say Carter was the best player who was dubbed "the next Jordan" but that he at times best captured the magic of Jordan. I consider the "Jordan magic" to be the first half of his career when he used jaw-dropping athleticism to attack the basket for crazy dunks and finishes. Kobe, to me, played much more like late-career Jordan--tons of fade-aways, still a great slasher but less "gravity-defying."
I remember when Kenny Smith came up with that, in my view, stupid nickname. At the same time Peter Vecsey suggested "Magna Carter" and you could see him dying inside as the dumb nickname got the response and his much smarter one was totally ignored.
I never liked that tag line for Vince. His play in the first half of his career was, for the most part, pretty amazing to watch. The second half, where his athleticism waned, wasn't so great. Still a solid contributor, but the magic went with the knees.
How does "Magna Carter" make any sense? Just sounding like another totally unrelated thing isn't smart, IMO. It's basically the way Dennis Miller operates--just throw in any historical reference he can think of, whether it actually fits the situation or not, and chalk it up as "intelligent humor." None of Carter's nicknames were classics, to me, but I liked "Air Canada" the best. Air Canada being a real airline, that actually sponsored the arena they played in, the reference to him playing for Canada's main (and eventually only) basketball team and the call-back to Air Jordan. Of course, it also made him a bit of a walking advertisement, so that reduces the cool factor quite a lot.
Yes, and? So Carter el Grande would be equally brilliant? The "joke" is that it sounds like Magna Carta, which is a meaningless historical reference in this context. You should probably take it as a bad sign that you are!
I think the joke was that it only sounded like Magna Carta if you have a New Yawk accent like Peter Vecsey.
