Vince Carter, one of the most popular and prolific players in Nets history, made his return to the team as a TV analyst this weekend.
Thomas Wolfe was wrong: You can go home again.
And that’s exactly what Carter did Friday night with his YES Network debut in Brooklyn’s 124-97 rout of Washington at Barclays Center.
“It’s a homecoming, of course … so this is exciting for me. It’s easy to call a game for any team — Washington, for instance — that I have no ties to. But I played for this team, so it’s definitely fun,” Carter told The Post. “That’s why we tried to make this opportunity happen, because of the ties. It’s cool. It’s cool to be on this side now.”
Carter spent five spectacular seasons on the Nets’ side, and the franchise was all the better for it.
He averaged 23.6 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.7 assists to earn three All-Star berths, and the undying love of the fan base.
The surefire Hall of Famer is still third on the franchise’s all-time scoring list at 8,834 points, and got a loud ovation from the Barclays Center crowd after the team played a video tribute to him.
“That’s a legend right there, big-time,” Royce O’Neale said. “Growing up watching him, and then playing against him, just seeing the respect he gets around the league; just to see his next career shine, you just gotta give love to him.”
Carter told The Post he’s got three more YES games lined up — Dec. 29 at Washington, Jan. 5 vs. OKC and Jan. 7 vs. Portland — and will go from there.
Fellow YES analyst Richard Jefferson is a former Nets teammate, as is coach Jacque Vaughn.
“I usually don’t do the comparison thing … but I’ll throw him in my top five all-time teammates without a doubt,” Vaughn said. “He’s an unbelievable human being; I love having him around. And boy, was he a heck of a player. It’s great to have him in the building, for me to see him at the table. He’s a legend.”
It didn’t take long for Carter to build that Vinsanity legend.
After a midseason trade from Toronto, Carter poured in 27.5 points in 57 games for the Nets in 2004-05, still the best single-season average in their NBA history.
Despite having played for the New Jersey Nets in East Rutherford and only visited Brooklyn as a foe, the connection with the team was still strong for Carter.
“It’s the Nets. I still understand the tie, because I played here as a player,” Carter told The Post. “I’ve actually played in this building, even though it wasn’t in a Net uniform.”
The last time Carter played in the building was a bittersweet memory in a way.
Saturday marked his first trip back to Barclays Center since the final game he played in the building for Atlanta on Jan. 12, 2020.
“The last time I was in this building, you know who was sitting right here? Kobe [Bryant],” Carter told The Post, pointing toward where the late icon had been seated. “That was the last conversation we had. We were supposed to meet back up, have a conversation about retiring. And he was like, ‘Yo, let’s get together, let’s talk.’ And literally that happens a week or two later.”
Exactly two weeks later, Bryant died in a helicopter crash, and Carter turned 43, finally at peace with the idea of retirement.
“I’d already said I was this was my last year, but I always struggled with saying that I was retiring,” Carter said. “But who better to talk to than Kobe at the time? And the conversation we had was about how he enjoyed it. We’re talking about one of the fiercest competitors to ever play basketball. He loved retirement. And if he can say retirement is great, I’m OK. He said, ‘You’re going to love it.’
“So that conversation is what helps me from that moment on actually being willing enough to articulate I’m retired. That conversation, just seeing the joy. He’s like, ‘Look, it’s great.’ … And from that moment on, walked into the locker room leaving here, I felt more comfortable about the word retirement.”