ATLANTA – It could have been a laugh for no particular reason.
That likely wasn’t the case for Jevon Carter, however.
Not considering his last few seasons as a Bull.
So as he sat by his locker late Thursday night, a bag of ice taped around each knee, he was asked if he was hoping that his 26-point performance would resonate into more minutes or a different standing in the rotation.
“Do I hope?” Carter repeated the question. “I hope for a lot of things.”
Then came the laugh, and that said it all. Better than the alternative.
But that’s why Carter is so respected by his teammates and coaches. He’s had every reason to complain about how his short career as a Bull has gone. Carter could be skipping workouts, counting down the days until he’s possibly included in a trade package or his contract expires next season if he opts back in.
Instead, he works.
Want to know where to find Carter on most days? Just check the training facility because he’s either shooting or dribbling a basketball.
“I mean it’s my job, you know what I’m saying,” Carter said, when asked why he hasn’t let go of the rope or at least loosened his grip. “You either get better or you get worse in this business. I would rather get better, so I continue to keep working.”
Work that paid off against the Hawks.
Less than four minutes into the game, coach Billy Donovan watched his short-handed team fall behind 9-2 and do so without a sign of life.
Enter Carter.
All he did over the next eight-plus minutes was hit six straight threes, and score 19 points, putting the Bulls up as much as 15.
“I give him a lot of credit for doing what he did,” Donovan said. “We were kind of dead in the water starting the game the way we did. We weren’t playing well, and he kind of came in and gave us a huge boost in that first quarter. That was huge for us. It gave us some breathing room.
“I’m happy for him personally, just because all of the time he puts in. The opportunities have been limited, but the ability and the maturity competitively just to keep himself ready at all times is really impressive to me. To see him rewarded for the work he puts in was great.”
And rather shocking.
It’s not that Carter can’t get hot from long range. As a Buck in 2022, Carter had a 7-for-13 three-point barrage against the Celtics. It’s just been a while, made even more difficult by the fact that Carter rarely plays, appearing in just 14 games this season and averaging under seven minutes per game.
“The ball was just finding me and I was taking the right shots,” Carter said. “It wasn’t like I was just coming down, (isolation) on my man and trying to kill. I was just taking the shots that were there, and they just went in.”
The fourth-quarter meltdown in the loss proved to be a downer on the night overall, but didn’t change the fact that it was Carter’s best performance as a Bull, as he also finished with five assists and four rebounds.
Where it will get interesting is on Saturday when the Bulls could get some players like Lonzo Ball (illness) and Josh Giddey (ankle) back into the backcourt mix. Does Carter get a chance for an encore or is it back to spending the game in warmups?
Either way, don’t expect him to complain. A laugh will do.
“I’m in the NBA. It’s a blessing,” Carter said, when asked if it’s hard not to become negative about his standing. “It doesn't get no better than that.”
