I can't believe that I'm saying this, but: Vince Carter's getting a bum rap because of his recent remarks about not trying his hardest.

Carter sure isn't one of my favorites. He’s an over-rated player and as an individual, I put him only a couple tiers above Kobe Bryant. But it seems to me that Carter isn't saying, I didn't give 100% effort on the court every night.

Instead, I think he's saying I didn't work hard enough to develop my game because I could hide deficiencies with talent.

In a perfect world, highly-paid professional athletes would take everything about their job seriously, but Carter is just admitting to what most athletes do: Hide behind their talent until it's no longer enough, and then construct other facets of their game. I don't think he's saying that he used to dog it on the court in Toronto.