Vince Carter gets ‘emotional’ during Nets’ jersey retirement ceremony

The emotion seeping through the face of Vince Carter had been evident from the start, from the fourth question of a news conference hours before his jersey retirement ceremony, from the long pause — and the watering eyes — that followed an innocuous inquiry into how his four-plus seasons with the Nets solidified a spot in the Hall of Fame. Carter needed to talk about former teammate Jason Kidd.

He needed to talk about Lawrence Frank, his former coach.

Those emotions popped up throughout the rest of the night at Barclays Center, as Carter became the seventh player in Nets history to have his number in the rafters.

When talking about Julius Erving, his mentor and idol who narrated a video and spoke Saturday.

When taking two steps back from the podium and listening to chants of “VC” echo through a venue filled with fans clinging to nostalgia.

“I’m so darn emotional these days,” Carter joked during his news conference, “it pisses me off.”

As a player, Carter always admired arenas and the jerseys dangling from the top that served as footprints of history, so when he arrived in New Jersey two decades ago, that tradition continued.

He saw the No. 32 of Erving. He saw the No. 52 of Charles “Buck” Williams.

The legends who’d already earned their forever place in franchise history.

Carter would always “glance up there,” and the thought of wanting to join those players, of taking his number and making it famous like his mother once told him to do, was always there.

And Saturday night, 16 years after his final season with the Nets and during halftime of Brooklyn’s 106-97 loss to the Heat, it became a reality.

“It’s always cool when guys like [Williams] say, ‘Welcome to the club,’ ” said Carter, who joined Drazen Petrovic, John Williamson, Bill Melchionni, Jason Kidd, Erving, and Williams as Nets to have their numbers retired.

On Saturday, and for good reason, the Nets were stuck in the first decade of the 2000s.

There was the framed Carter jersey. The microphone cover featuring his No. 15. Nets head coach Jordi Fernandez wore a “Vinsanity” hat for his pregame news conference and called him a “once in my lifetime” player afterward, and the old New Jersey Nets logos dotted the news conference backdrop.

There, an emotional Carter reflected on the relationships that allowed his career to blossom into another tier with the Nets.

He reflected on the dunks, the moments that meshed with others on a Hall of Fame-bound journey, and wiped away tears at times with family members, including his three children, sitting in the front row.

Maybe, Carter speculated, his son Vince, if he decides to play basketball, could play for the Nets and bring No. 15 out of retirement.

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