A crowd gathers around Vince Carter while he’s outside of the Kings’ locker room before a Dec. 20 matchup against the Nets. There is a feeling this could be Half Man Half Amazing’s last game against his former team.

At this point in his career, Carter has played longer in the NBA than most dream of. But he’s not ready to call it quits. Not just yet.

“I don’t think I could make it to 45,” he concedes. “I’ll be 41 soon, so it’s not that farfetched, but I definitely wanna play one more and then see from there.”

Today, Jan. 26, is Vince Carter’s 41st birthday, and if you ask him, he’s still got something left in the tank; the same tank that’s been running now into his 19th NBA season. One more year makes it a round 20.

“I’m gonna play another year for sure,” he said. “I feel good.”

At this point in his playing career, Carter is more mentor than player. He’s only played in 29 of Sacramento’s 48 games, averaging just 4.6 points per game. But in less than a half-season, he’s left an indelible mark on the Kings, who own the seventh-youngest NBA roster. After all, Carter himself was a student of the game, a player who “hated not knowing” so much, and he would relentlessly ask his vets questions. How could he not pass that curiosity down to the hungry young players he shares a locker room with?

“I never felt I was bigger than the game to where I had figured it out,” he said. “I had Charles Oakley, I had Kevin Willis, Dee Brown, I had Doug Christie, all on one team. So I can sit there and ask those guys any questions, and they would help me and make me feel comfortable on the court before we even played.

“So that’s what I wanna do for these guys.”

Carter says he has another year in him. Theoretically, if he keeps his body right through the 2021-22 season, he could actually play to age 45, becoming the oldest player to ever check into an NBA game. But watching him talk about what it means to give back to the younger players uncovers a potential career path after life in the NBA. Carter says he wants to get into broadcasting and wouldn’t mind being an owner, but as he gushed over working with young NBA talent, who knows, a career in player development could be his passion.

“I love working with young guys who are willing to work, who want to get better because I have nothing to prove,” Carter said. “I have nothing to gain. I only want to see them prosper and become what they want to become.”

Vince Carter is working out with Kings rookie Harry Giles about an hour before tip-off. Today, they’re working on post moves. Tomorrow it could be dribbling.

Giles hasn’t played an NBA game yet. He hasn’t quite been the same player since he tore his ACL, MCL, and meniscus in his left knee back in 2013 before partially tearing the meniscus in his right knee in 2015. But the Kings took a flier on Giles — the former No. 2 overall player and top-ranked power forward in the college basketball class of 2016 — at pick No. 20 in the loaded 2017 NBA draft. Now, Carter is trying to mold the young forward into the best player he can possibly be.

Talking with media in the Barclays Center corridors, Carter has a busted lip. It’s from one of many battles he endures with Giles as the rookie fights to regain form. And for Carter, it’s all worth it as long as the 19-year-old makes progress.

“For me, I’m just giving him that workout partner and we go through different scenarios of what he’s gonna see. So at least now, he’s in the game. He’s prepared for it,” he said. “He hasn’t had the opportunity to play, so he’s willing to work. He comes out early with me and he gets his work in, we get on the court, and I’m willing to take a beating from him for his growth. It’s all worth it.

“I can’t eat any salt tonight,” he jokes. “It’s gonna burn like a mother.”

Carter’s work isn’t limited to just Giles. He’s pulled aside Skal Labissiere and Buddy Hield, too. Willie Cauley-Stein calls him and Zach Randolph O.G.’s. And for a roster with 10 players age 25 or younger, Air Canada is a resource — for those who want to work.

Carter says after he retires, he might go the Mark Jackson route. That would mean entering a career in broadcasting before making the transition to coaching. But considering his approach with the Kings youngsters, a hands-on career in player development could be V.C.’s calling.

Because players will listen to someone who’s been there and done that. And few players throughout the course of NBA history have done more than Vince Carter.

Carter turned 41 years old today, and he may have slowed down, but he hasn’t missed a beat. He grew up and turned into an elite NBA player by asking questions. Now it might be time for him to start answering them. And judging by the way he’s taken Giles, Labissiere, and other Kings under his wing, Carter would probably be pretty good at that, too.
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