Least Valuable Player: Vince Carter, New Jersey Nets
Nothing predicts a Nets freefall better than a comfortable, well-paid and unmotivated Carter. Half-man, half-hearted. They are in the middle of a coach-killing, eight-game losing streak, and no one is playing softer than Carter. He has stopped going to the rim, stopped risking life and limb and declared his new four-year, $62 million contract fit for a suburban jump shooter.
As badly as Rod Thorn would love to trade him, there are no takers. Ownership wanted to overpay Carter last summer – not the basketball people – and they’re stuck with him.