It’s pretty easy to notice while watching this video that Vince Carter must be getting heckled by a first-row fan, because he’s often seen yelling at somebody who isn’t a player or a referee. The question then becomes, who the heck would go to a Hawks home game to heckle one of the home-team players? Could it be a displaced Pistons fan? Or maybe somebody who doesn’t appreciate how Carter’s limited minutes nonetheless cut into the minutes of players who need on-court development time? I don’t think it’s either. No, the courtside heckler is a far more sinister foe.
It’s Father Time himself.
Think about it. One of the ways that Father Time could force Carter’s retirement (which seems like it will never happen, given how spry he is) is to get into his head during games. Sow the seeds of unconfidence in Carter’s mind. Yelling stuff like “You’re a defensive liability at all times” or “Only a tanking team like the Hawks would bother playing you because of your shortcomings, and even then they only do it because they desperately need to attract fans at this low point in their franchise history” or “Frederic Weis isn’t even depressed right now” could really affect Carter’s mental state. I know it would affect mine.
Well, okay, those specific phrases wouldn’t phase me at all during games. But if Father Time were to yell things like “Don’t look too closely at your hairline” or “Those knee problems you have aren’t going to get any better” or “Everybody in this world has a special someone…except you, who will die alone and unloved” at me while I was playing basketball, I would fold up and die right there. So props to Carter for yapping back.