PHILADELPHIA -- When it was over, there was a sad, strange smile on Vince Carter's face, a final, failed flick of his wrist bringing with it the resignation of summer vacation. This was the final act of a magnificent Toronto-Philadelphia series, one shot, one moment with millions preparing to play judge, jury and executioner missing the virtue of a most virtuous act.

	Carter's getting grief for his Sunday actions, but many also applaud him.

Carter's choice to spend his Sunday morning on the campus of the University of North Carolina, his wearing cap and gown for commencement exercises winning the public and private disdain of his Raptors teammates, and a country wrapped in the shallow values of the jock culture. It was a profound mistake to to transform the determining the winner and loser of Game 7 into a referendum on the priorities of Carter.

He was in the right places, at the right times Sunday, all the way to the end when the 20-foot jumper floated off his fingers, banged the back of the rim, and started a 76ers stampede onto the First Union Center floor and on to the Eastern Conference Finals. When it was over, he had no apologies. No regrets.

"A lot of people might not think it's important, just as long as they get the requirements," Carter said. "So what about walking? It doesn't work that way in my family. It doesn't work that way in my mind. It was just as important as playing in this game."

It was wonderful to hear the hint of defiance in his words Sunday night, an athlete using a Game 7 stage to make a stand and sell something to kids beyond a pair of overpriced sneakers. For once, there was an athlete making a just stand in the face of strong resistance. This wasn't the intention of Carter, but it was absolutely the result of his choices Sunday.

For a moment, just consider the message Carter delivered to the nation. Here he was, the morning of the game of his life, making a profound statement on the importance of education to him. It mattered. He wasn't going to just let the completion of his college degree pass him with a nod 500 hundred miles away in a hotel room. This mattered. This was an honor. One of the great young basketball stars on the planet planned to be there.

"The criticism is so unjust," 76ers GM Billy King said. "He sent a great message to kids in this country."

A magnificent message, when everything else they're seeing and hearing these days tells them the degree it's perfectly useless; the education a waste of time. All week, the story surrounding the NBA was the record list of college underclassmen and high school giants tripping over themselves to get in the draft. Suddenly, there was a nation of kids tempted to believe an extra hour or two on the playground, in the driveway, was the wise choice over completing a homework assignment.

All Carter did was leave them with something else to consider, something else to see. Lord knows they needed to see his side of the story. As much as anything in American culture, the NBA feeds the fantasy for instant gratification these days. No New York-Penn Leagues for draft day stars, just Sonny Vaccaro hugging your mother in the green room. There were 58 underclassmen declaring for the draft, six high school kids and this doesn't begin to address the sense of entitlement and unrealistic expectation that trickles down to the players through the sneaker companies and AAU sleaze.

Did Carter cost the Raptors the game? Did he lose a bounce in his step, lose a little edge? Understand this: The greats know their body best of all. Michael Jordan played 36 holes of golf, played cards until dawn and still dropped 40 a night. And, hey, for everyone indignant over his choice of preparation on the day of a Game 7, well, they should get a subscription to CourtTV and catch the strip club trial in Atlanta, where a long line of NBA players, past and present, are expected to testify free time in the league isn't always spent on those little PlayStations these oversized kids pack for the road.

In the end, the irony is too rich. These were the playoffs that Carter was celebrated for discovering the truths of the true superstars, learning the lessons of responsibility of a franchise player. As the ball hung over the First Union Center Sunday, hung as judge and jury in the minds of millions, there was no need to wait and see how the shot ended up for him and the Raptors on Sunday: Make or miss, win or lose, Vince Carter had never deserved a longer, louder ovation.

Adrian Wojnarowski is a columnist for the Bergen Record and a regular contributor to ESPN.com.