Vince Carter has successfully transitioned from star to role player.
That’s not just learning to play with reduced athleticism, though Carter has. That’s being someone teams want around.
Carter is – and people noticed.
The Grizzlies forward won the 2015-16 Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award.
Twelve finalists were chosen by a panel of NBA legends, NBA executives and and National Basketball Players Association executives. Then, current players voted among the 12.
The full voting (first-, second-, third-, fourth-, fifth-place votes, total points):
- Vince Carter, Memphis (65-61-45-39-29-1448)
- Kevin Garnett, Minnesota (38-34-27-44-21-916)
- Chris Bosh, Miami (18-49-31-29-34-799)
- Andre Miller, San Antonio (25-39-25-32-33-777)
- Caron Butler, Sacramento (19-28-41-45-31-757)
- Ryan Anderson, New Orleans (26-33-25-30-25-731)
- Jose Calderon, New York (25-19-39-19-24-659)
- Marvin Williams, Charlotte (33-12-17-21-50-612)
- Luis Scola, Toronto (28-15-20-11-10-528)
- James Jones, Cleveland (15-17-22-22-17-462)
- Festus Ezeli, Golden State (22-9-11-19-24-419)
- Andre Drummond, Detroit (12-11-24-16-29-394)
An important note: In previous years, players were banned from voting for their teammates. For a teammate award. That’s why I dubbed this the Hearsay Award.
But the Hearsay Award is no more. Players are now allowed to vote for their teammates, and you can bet Carter got plenty of support from his fellow Grizzlies.
