Holding Court on the Course

Vince Carter Makes Learning A Life Sport

By Sobukwe Odinga

It was easy for legendary UNC Tar Heels Coach Dean Smith to see that Vince Carter would one day soar into the NBA pantheon. And while Smith helped to harness Carter’s hardwood genius, he also insisted that Carter pick up the game of golf in order to cut deals beyond the court. “You better learn to play golf,” was how Smith put it at the time. “You might want to have that in your back-pocket.”

Carter realized at once that along with his prodigious hops, acuity on the links could help to keep his pockets—front and back—overflowing. So not long after he announced that he would enter the 1998 NBA draft, Carter took Smith’s advice. He still recalls his very first time slicing away at the driving range with fellow Tar Heel Antawn Jamison. “We didn’t know what the heck we were doing but we had to learn somehow. We couldn’t hide from it.” 

Fast forward a decade. After eight NBA all-star selections, an Olympic gold medal and too many feats of pure athleticism to recount, Vince is back. An on-again off-again interest in the links has grown into a true passion and Carter has finally returned to the game with renewed intensity. Even though the golf course can be notoriously unforgiving, we at The Green Magazine are more than willing to give him a pass. Not only because he’s produced enough highlight reel to bandage the broken ankles of half the NBA, but more importantly because he’s displayed a genuine commitment to social outreach. Through his Embassy of Hope Foundation Carter has channeled funds to a bevy of initiatives aimed at helping underprivileged children achieve their dreams. And his prized project, The Vince Carter Youth Basketball Academy, has offered inspiration and instruction to a new generation of aspiring basketball players.

The Green Magazine caught up with Carter recently to discuss his love for the links, his lasting legacy and what’s next on his ever-expanding horizon. Rest assured, the same eagerness to learn and refusal to retreat that marked his first outing at the driving range, and no doubt contributed to his success on the court, loom larger than ever.

SO: What would you rather: a slam-dunk over Yao Ming or a hole-in-one?
VC: I would like to accomplish both. I’ve never had the opportunity to even attempt to dunk on Yao Ming. It’s funny, I saw Tracy [McGrady], my cousin, a couple of weeks ago and I told him I’m gonna get Yao Ming. Tracy said he wasn’t going to let me do it. I’m still looking for the hole in one.

SO: What part of your golf game do you handle the best?
VC: Wow. I can drive the ball pretty far and my putting game is getting better. Actually within the last week I’ve also seen a miraculous turn-around in my fairway game.

SO: Do you recognize any parallels between basketball and golf?
VC: Concentration. Following through on your shot. I look at putting like shooting a free-throw. These are things I’m working on and you have to do these things with consistency. If you want to become a three point shooter you have to continue to practice, working on it, and visualizing until it becomes second nature—same with golf.

SO: How is your recovery from ankle surgery progressing?
VC: I feel great. I’m just taking the time out to let my body heal, first and foremost. By doing that it’s helped me to recover faster. I feel stronger. Anytime you get surgery and you do the right things, you’re better prepared for the next year. I’ve done that and I can’t wait for the season to start.

SO: What are your personal and team goals for the next season?
VC: Definitely to get the team back to the playoffs. I want to continue to take a leadership role with the help of the other veterans. I just want to make sure I’m consistent in my play and verbally consistent in my leadership.

SO: How have you managed to maintain your athleticism throughout the course of your career?
VC: I’ve been blessed to have the opportunity to do the things I’ve been able to do for so long. It’s really concentrating, resting and taking care of myself. As I got older I’ve had to do a little bit more maintenance to ensure that I stay at that level. I could have easily been content with the success I had the first five years and my ability would have decreased. But I just refuse to let that happen. Now I have to work a little bit harder in the summer because there are younger guys coming in with a lot more energy and a lot more hops. So I just try to stay on top the best that I can.
SO: What would you like your lasting NBA legacy to be?
VC: That I enjoyed the game, that I was consistent, that I was able to do a lot of things in the game. I don’t want to just be considered an athlete or a guy who could jump. I want to be considered a guy who loved it, who played it for as long as he could and loved to help people succeed in the game as well.

SO: What advice would you offer rookies just coming into the league?
VC: All players are different. Some players have one thing and not the other. So it just depends on the athlete, the player and the situation. But, I always tell them to find a vet on your team and to ask him questions—learn. Don’t be afraid to ask questions throughout the year. I think a lot of kids now come from success stories as far as being the best player on their team in college, but no matter how great you are as a rookie you’re still a rookie. There’s a lot to learn and they feel like they don’t need to ask questions because they’ve had so much success. But when they step on that floor the [NBA] game is faster and it’s just a different world.

For me, I had Charles Oakley who pulled me aside and everyday just enlightened me on different things. I was more prepared by asking him questions than I was through just waiting for him to offer information. My assignments and the people I had to guard—I would ask Oakley questions about them. So I felt like I knew them and I would only be playing them for the first time.

SO: Where does the importance that you place on education—on the court and in general—come from?
VC:My entire family are all educators—all teachers of some sort having to do with the educational system. And it’s been instilled in me for so long and I believe in it. As a young kid you hate it, you hate to hear it, you hate to have to do it. But I believe in it and I believed in it at that age. The first question I ask my kids, my campers, is how many of you want to become professional athletes? Everyone raises their hands. Then I ask them what does it take to get there? ‘Oh I gotta work on my game,’ is normally the answer. Well, what they fail to realize is that if you don’t make it out of high school, you don’t make it to college. You don’t make it to college, you don’t have the opportunity to make it in the NBA.

And they tend to forget that even once you make it to the NBA you still have studying to do—you have to study your plays and you have to look at film. All these things you have to do in high school first. Kids tend to forget that it’s not athlete-student, it’s student-athlete.

SO: What caused you to found your basketball camp and how long has it been in operation?
VC: This is my 11th year doing the basketball camp and it’s something I like to do. I don’t do it because I have to. I do it because I want to. I enjoy reaching out to kids. You’ll find me out there with a group of kids just talking. I always talk to the group as a whole but sometimes a kid will pull me on the side and just ask me a question. Maybe they don’t want to ask in front of the group and we just talk about the different things that I’ve seen so that I can help them to choose their own path. I did a book a long time ago in Toronto called Choose Your Course and that’s really what it’s about—helping these kids to choose their own course in the right way.

SO: Based on your conversations with these kids, what do they seem to be in need of most?
VC: Guidance and direction, first and foremost. They need to understand how to go about perfecting the craft. And one simple thing that I tell these kids that means more than anything is—think before you act.

SO: I understand that your father was a school principal. Was he a strict disciplinarian?
VC: Definitely a big disciplinarian, but in a way that helped us to better ourselves. My mother did the same thing. We would say ‘Oh, mom is mean’, but that helped us to better ourselves and allowed us to become what we are today.

SO: Other than basketball and your outreach efforts what brings you personal happiness? What else inspires you?
VC: I have a three-year-old who I love more than anything and she has a little dog that I keep. So I enjoy playing with them and giving my time to her. I love bowling. And I have played golf for a while, but now I’ve been putting more focus into it. I’ve been using it as a stress reliever and something I love to do to relax. And I have a small circle of friends that I really enjoy hanging out with.

SO: As an African-American who’s enjoyed tremendous financial success, what do you intend to teach your three-year-old about finance?
VC: It’s funny, I had this conversation just yesterday. I want her to understand what it takes to reach financial stability. What does it take for you to be what you want to be? I think a lot of kids want to become the great NBA all-stars, but forget the middle part—the work. There aren’t that many people who are blessed to be a Lebron James—who are that gifted. You have to understand the work ethic and what it takes to get there. And I just want her to never depend on Daddy because he is or has whatever. I want her to know that whenever she’s in a tight bind her dad will be there but I want her to say ‘Daddy I want my own.’ That would mean more to me than anything in this world, because it means that she gets it. Just like I got it. My mom worked her but off, but I wanted my own. So I think to see that in her would be one of the greatest accomplishments of my life.

SO: Who instilled the desire to stand on your own two feet in you?
VC: I got it from my parents first and foremost. You learn from them and as you step out into the world at any age other pieces to that puzzle start to appear. It started at home. And the greatest feeling is for me to be able to sit back now and look at what I have and what I’ve accomplished and say, ‘I did that.’ It’s not like I stole it. It’s not like I begged for it. No, I worked for it and shed blood, sweat and tears to make it happen.

SO: Why did you decide to start spending more time golfing?
VC: As you get older you realize that after basketball you’ll be making a lot of business deals on the golf course. And it’s just something that I’ve chosen to pick up again. One of my friends is a scratch golfer so we play all of the time and I’ve just gotten better and better.

SO: Where do you play most frequently? What are some of the courses you would like to play?
VC: I play here in Orlando. I live down the street from one of the best golfers to ever do it: Tiger Woods.  I haven’t had the opportunity to play with him. I think I’ll wait for that. But nevertheless it never hurts to get a few pointers and tips from him.

I’ve had the opportunity to play the LPGA course at Daytona Beach and I’ve played a few other courses in my years. But I would love to play some of the best courses in the world, just to say that I’ve done it. I would love to play Bay Hill, right down the street from me. And I would love to play Lake Tahoe.

SO: Have you ever golfed with Jason Kidd If so, who’s better?
VC: J-Kidds probably the better golfer. I’ve never had an opportunity to play with him. He plays a lot. But like I told him and all of my buddies—Darryl Armstrong, Chucky Atkins, Ray Allen. Just give me time and I’ll be right there.

SO: Who would be the three other guys in your dream foursome?
VC: Jim Thorpe, Tiger and Nicklaus.

SO: What’s next? What do you envision yourself doing once your basketball career ends?
VC: I have an enormous vision. There are so many things I want to do after basketball. I want to continue to do my basketball camp. I don’t care how old I am or how far removed from the game I am. I still want to reach out to kids and be a motivational speaker and share my experiences.
 
I want to stay close to the game of basketball—maybe coaching, maybe in the front office, or maybe even commentating. I love to talk about the game and explain the game to people. And I’m looking into a few other businesses—maybe a restaurant chain, maybe a retail chain—those things are all tentative at the moment but hopefully they’ll be a reality by the time my career is done.