Every season you can witness extremely talented guards showcasing their goods in the Pro A and there are always players that have been good enough for the easyCredit BBL, but didn´t make it simply because there are simply such an abundance of great guards in the world greater than all of Paris Hilton´s closets filled with her exoctic shoes. Just in the last few years there have been great Pro A guards like Davonte Lacy, Rayshawn Simmons, Shy Ely, Casey Hill or Kendale Mccullum who could easily have been barking plays on the floor for BBL teams. A guy Like Kendale Mccullum currently has BBL offers and another guy that you can add to this list is Chris Carter. The only difference between Carter and the rest of this pile of extra ordinary guards is that Carter has made it to the top of the basketball mountain reaching the BBL playing  a season for Rasta Vechta. Another difference between him and these other top players is that he is the Pro A to BBL magician having helped and played a gigantic role for Rasta Vechta and the Niners Chemnitz reaching the easyCredit BBL in the last few years. Even if I find that he has those special leadership qualities and focus to reach his goals and has displayed those basketball magician qualities in helping Vechta and Chemnitz reach the big show, it is actually his humbleness that won´t allow him to accept having that Pro A to BBL basketball magician title. When I asked him about being that basketball magician on the day that his new club Rostock Seawolves announced his arrival, he was quick to fire two sentences back at me. “No I’m not. I just been blessed to be a part of two good programs”, warned Chris Carter. Yesterday his new club Rostock Seawolves made it official that he will play the next two seasons in Rostock. After his second season in Chemnitz, he was happy to have gotten minutes again and had an important role in comparison to the season before in Vechta where he didn´t play much. “I learned a lot from my stay in the BBL last year but most importantly I learned how to be a winner and how to be a leader. I needed this season for my mental health for sure because I told myself last year that I had to take one step back to take two steps forward. I bet on myself basically saying I know I am a BBL player and I will be back in 2 years”, stressed Chris Carter. Because Carter is remaining in the Pro A, he might have to wait 3 years to get back to the BBL. But for some players it is that amazing challenge of trying to help a club move up that is more important than playing in the BBL:

            Chris Carter is a 28 year old 195cm guard that was born in Brooklyn, New York and is from Port St. Lucie, Florida that completed his fifth professional season and second with the Niners Chemnitz averaging 9.6ppg, 2.0rpg, 5.1apg, 1.7spg, FGP: 53.3%, 3PT: 39.4%, FT: 66.7%. He played with Rasta Vechta from 2017-2019. In 2018-2019in the BBL he averaged 4.0ppg, 1.1rpg, 1.4apg. In his first season with Rasta Vechta he helped the club move from the Pro A to the easyCredit BBL winning the Pro A title averaging 11,0ppg,3,4rpg and 5,3apg and shot 40% from outside. In 2016-2017 he had his first tour of duty with the Niners Chemnitz(Pro A) playing 40 games averaging 12.4ppg, 4.2rpg, Assists-4 (5.7apg), Steals-4 (2.1spg), FGP: 53.0%, 3PT: 34.5%, FT: 73.4%. As a rookie he played for Bipa Basket Odessa (Ukraine-SL Favorit Sport) playing 32 games averaging 14.0ppg, 4.7rpg, 5.0apg, Steals-1 (2.2spg), FGP: 44.1%, 3PT: 27.4%, FT: 77.3%. He started his basketball career at the Air Force (NCAA) and then played the last three years of school at Florida Tech (NCAA2) playing 77 NCAA games averaging in his 3 years  17.9ppg, 5.7rpg, 2.9spg, FGP: 45.6%, 3PT: 32.4%, FT: 73.7%, 17.3ppg, 5.1rpg, 7.4apg, 2.0spg, FGP: 39.5%, 3PT: 29.8% and 14.0ppg, 4.9rpg, 3.8apg, 1.8spg, FGP: 46.9%, 3PT: 38.4%, FT: 75.8%. The American has had a very fulfilling professional basketball career and has played major minutes in 4 of his 5 pro seasons and won 2 titles helping 2 teams move up to the top league. Now he will have that golden chance to do it a third time with the Rostock Seawolves.

            It is the end of July when I reach a very relaxed and up beat Chris Carter who has been in Rostock for a few days. In Vechta he was in the countryside and could have counted cows if bored and in Chemnitz lived in a big city where he had more recreational options than in Vechta and now he will call Rostock home for 2 seasons. He will live by the water and have home Port St. Lucie, Florida in his thoughts. “ I think it is cool that the beach is here. I hope the weather is nice for a while to enjoy it though”, stressed Chris Carter. The possible transfer to Rostock had already been leaked by someone last weekend, so the signing of him wasn´t  a big surprise for many. Just like so many other people in the last months, life has been hectic due to COVID-19, but he has tried to make the best of it and used that extra time to spend with his family. After the amazing season that he had experienced with the Niners Chemnitz, you would have thought that he would go into the easyCredit BBL with the club the same way he did with Rasta Vechta a few years back, but sometimes you chose from the heart and go where you feel the most appreciated. “It wasn’t a difficult decision. At the end of the day you have to go where you are wanted. That is what I did”, added Chris Carter. In the basketball language you hear the phrase “it´s a business” about as much as NBA fans are already proclaiming the Lakers as the COVID-19 2020 NBA champion and in the case of Carter it wasn´t any different. There were no hard feelings in the second separation between him and the Niners. “That wasn’t my decision. There is a business side to basketball and they made a business decision with me. I wish the club nothing but the best”, expressed Chris Carter. In the press release the American gave his thoughts to why he chose the Seawolves. “I know Rostock is a great city and you can experience a lot there. But more important is that Rostock is an ambitious club that is hungry for success. The training staff, fans and organization are top. I am ready to go to work”, warned Chris Carter. Going to Rostock was obviously a no brainer and when asked what reason was more appealing, the ambition of the club or playing for legendary head coach Dirk Bauermann, he decided to remain neutral. “It just made sense to go to Rostock. Their ambition to move up and to play with coach Bauermann were all very appetizing to my decision”, commented Chris Carter. But at the end of the day, the most important thing is getting that chip. Carter has done it twice as a professional and his new teammates Ronald Zakis and Behnam Yakchali also have won chips coupled with having a legend like Dirk Bauermann in control of the reigns, there really can only be one goal. “The goal is to be the best team in the league and to lead my team to a championship”, warned Chris Carter.

            Carter has been very fortunate to have played for two very good head coaches in the last four years for Pedro Calles and Rodrigo Pastore. He is more than confident about what Calles will be able to achieve in Hamburg. “Pedro is a fantastic coach. I have no doubt he makes that team a top 5 team this year”, warned Chris Carter.  Now he will be able to add a third great coach to his list with Dirk Bauermann. Bauermann is a German legend that helped lead the Bayer Giants Leverkusen to 7 titles in the 90´s and Bamberg to two titles in 2005 and 2007 while also coaching the German national team for many years and leading them to a silver medal at the 2005 European championships together with NBA legend Dirk Nowitzki. He will have plenty of time in the next weeks to learn more about the head coach. “I heard he is a great coach, knows the game, harps on defense,and will bring the best out of you”, warned Chris Carter. Carter is mostly known for having those unique leadership qualities as well as being that brutal floor general that will do whatever it takes for his team to be successful while filling the stat sheet like no other. But something that at times gets forgotten is his defense. He has always taken a lot of pride on the defensive end. Even if he was fourth in steals in the 2016-2017^th season and first in steals in the 2017-2018 season, he does so much more on the defensive end including things you don´t see on the stat sheet. That should please the defensive guru Dirk Bauermann. The American is excited to be able to work with the coaching legend and despite being a great defender has that drive to always improve “I am always willing to learn and become a better defensive player”, stressed Chris Carter. Consistency has always been an important aspect to Carter´s game not only on the offensive end, but also on the defensive end and he already knows what he will be striving on improving this season under Bauermann. “Just being solid and being in the right place all the time”, warned Chris Carter. He also knows that once in a while you have to get away from the x´s and o´s on long road trips to Nurnberg, Trier or Heidelberg and that could be a good opportunity to pick Bauermann´s brain concerning Dirk Nowitzki.  Bauermann wasn´t kidding when he described Carter as the absolute winner in the club press release. In the BBL season with Vechta, it was Carter´s most difficult season in his career  as he wasn´t playing and had to suck in the disappointment. His great character also allowed him not to take it personal and laud coach Calles for his superb coaching even if he wasn´t playing him. His ex teammate Seth Hinrichs described the Carter character best after that amazing Vechta run. “Chris could’ve easily tried to get his own but he sacrificed his own personal numbers for the sake of the team”, warned Seth Hinrichs. Carter´s response to Hinrich´s quote was. “I just try to compete every day in practice and play with passion. I try to make sure my team is on the same page offensively and defensively and just try to learn as much as I can from the vets and the coaches”, stressed Chris Carter. Rostock Seawolves fans have witnessed a lot of joy in the last years moving up from the Regionalliga to the Pro A and now with the legendary head coach Dirk Bauermann and top character guy and Pro A to BBL basketball magician Chris Carter on board, three´s a charm could be the motto now going into the season and be the reality in May 2021 with the American´s third title in Germany.