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As much negative attention as LeBron received for The Decision TV special, his on-court commitment to the Cavaliers wasn't criticized the way Vince Carter’s was. 'Half man, half a season.' Both fan bases turned on them for years afterward. Which do you think was the uglier breakup?

The raptors were rolling out a g league team
to play with Vince his last couple of years there. Combined with his injuries the writing was on the wall and everyone could see it. LeBron leaving the cavs was a double shock because it was his “hometown team” and then he left to form a super team everyone hated etc.

Vince. LeBron didn't intentionally dog it and milk injuries. He still left it all on the floor

This isn't even considering that LeBron returned and delivered them a chip

Cry baby Vince cried his way out of Toronto. Played soft with zero effort. Not professional at all

People definitely accused LeBron of quitting against Boston, but there was no consensus. Vince straight up told the media he wasn’t going to try hard lol.

Didn't Vince say something like he would stop dunking? Lol. I say def Vince leaving the raptors. Lebron is just the better , higher profile player, so it would appear worse. Lebron played out his contract.

Lebron leaving Cleveland by far. He had an ESPN special dragging it out and turning the whole thing into a circus just to rub salt in the wound.

What Vince did was worse in a vacuum, but what Lebron did was a lot bigger and more far reaching. Most people who weren't Raptor fans or hardcore NBA fans didn't really care that much about Vince's regular season antics.

LeBron by FAR. Every fan base hated him for 1.5 yrs and the media coverage was brutal. So many 4th quarter/choking jokes. LeBron himself basically put on a master class on how to tank your public image for a year.

Fortunately for LeBron, DWade declined hard after 2011 and Bosh took a backseat, so the narrative was in his favor when the heat won 2 championships. Unlike KD who's legacy never really recovered from the criticism he got for joining GS.

I don't know the pain and hurt Vince caused Raptors fans (which did seem to be massive) bur the whole circus of LeBron and The Decision really left a bitter taste in my mouth.

The funny thing is the Knicks F/O were convinced they signed up and that's what we all thought up until the rumours started online an hour before The telecast started that LeBron was taking his talents to South Beach.

Both Cavs and especially Knicks fans were hosed that night.

I wonder if he could have won a chip in New York with Melo ? I think so, but we will never know for sure

The Raptors quit on Vince and tried hard to scapegoat him... Their freaking coach even tried to fight him, promoting Vince to body slam the fool.

LeBron for sure. That first game back with the Heat at Quicken Loans arena was tense. I honestly thought a fan was gonna storm the court and try to assault LeBron with a weapon.

I know the answer to this question is objectively LeBron, but a decent case can be made for Vince in the context of his era. Steve Francis got drafted by Vancouver and looked borderline suicidal. Vince was this beloved guy that the rest of Canada embraced after the Grizzlies left. Then he forces his way out, and is acting all relived to be back home in America, which is fine in Kawhi's case even without the ring, he wanted to be in California. It was just demoralizing as a Raptors casual to see an American player kiss the ground the moment he got off the plane and profusely thanking Christ that he's now in...Newark New Jersey.

I think the whole VC thing is partially responsible for the weird relationship the Raptors have with American sports media. "Nobody wants to go to Toronto" and other such nonsense. So I guess my bathroom scrawl of a point here is that Vince leaving was almost worse because of how young the Raptors were.

fast+forward wrote:Lebron leaving Cleveland by far. He had an ESPN special dragging it out and turning the whole thing into a circus just to rub salt in the wound.

This, having a tv special for this was beyond moronic. Absolute salt in the wound

LeBron was the best player in the league. Vince was maybe top 10 at best.

I think Vince getting boo'd in his return to Toronto in April 2005 was the most vitriol I've seen from a fanbase. Those chants were personal and for years after, he'd get the treatment from Raptors faithful. There was a lot of acrimony and the 2006 playoff series did not help.

Vince would taunt Toronto fans incessantly with gestures; he got Mo Pete tossed in a game in early 2006 I think by playfully hitting him. Lebron on the other hand was professional and somber (minus the "Decision" fiasco)

AleksandarN wrote:Cry baby Vince cried his way out of Toronto. Played soft with zero effort. Not professional at all

They didn't call him "Vinsissy" for nothing

I voted LeBron, but I quickly forgot VC left an entire country. So I will say VC was uglier.

LeBron’s exit was so bad the entire country hated him. Most of Canada outside Ontario doesn’t care much for the raptors

Lebron by far. Dude dogged the entire organization on national TV and made a whole spectacle out of it. Combine that with him being a very high profile player and you get one of the most notorious, if not THE most infamous team departure the sports world has ever seen.

All Vince did was just give crap effort to a joke of a roster at the time until he was traded. Which, let’s face it: we’ve seen that happen before and after Vince (James Harden being a more recent big example). You didn’t see Vince go on a Nets press conference after and go “not 1, not 2, not 3” etc.