Ray Knight still wears his 1986 World Series ring every day, a constant reminder of his career-defining performance and proudest professional moment.

But he wasn’t at Shea Stadium when the Mets received their rings, the first World Series MVP not to return to that team the following year, after a contract dispute. Scheduling conflicts kept Knight from joining the 20-year anniversary celebration and the closing of Shea two years later, allowing three decades to pass without returning to Queens as an official guest of the Mets.

But this weekend, Knight will be with his former teammates at Citi Field. This weekend, the reunion will have its MVP.

“People think I didn’t go because I was angry or something,” Knight said. “You can’t stay hurt that long, but I’m really excited. I’m really excited, almost giddy, about getting back.”

Knight, currently an MASN in-studio analyst for the Nationals, has been back for Mets games as a broadcaster and as the former Reds manager, but he said he felt snubbed over the years he hadn’t been honored like his former teammates. Knight said, however, he may have been overly sensitive over perceived slights and doesn’t believe it was necessarily intentional on the team’s part.

“I never called, they never reached out to me, and it just became more and more and more of a separation,” Knight said. “I saw guys getting called back to throw out first pitches and things like that, and I never got a call like that. What really stung me was some of the publications that the Mets put out — whether it was a yearbook or a poster or something commemorating the ’86 team — there’d be seven or eight pictures of guys on there, and I’d never be on there. And it’s hard for me to understand, as much as I contributed to that team, why I was never even featured in the small thing. Sensitivities are big. We just want to be appreciated. I knew my teammates appreciated me, but the powers that be, I don’t know that they did at that time.”

Knight, 63, struggled with injuries during his first two seasons with the Mets and nearly was released before the ’86 season, but he stayed and secured his spot at third base, hitting .298 with 11 home runs and 76 RBIs in the regular season before batting .391 in the World Series.

Knight hit the tie-breaking home run in Game 7 against the Red Sox but said no experience was as incredible as the 10th-inning rally in Game 6. His two-out RBI single made the miracle possible, and he completed the comeback “from the depths of the grave” by scoring the winning run — and getting mobbed at home plate — on Mookie Wilson’s ground ball through Bill Buckner’s legs.

“I look over my shoulder, and I saw the ball going [into right field], and from that point on, I don’t remember getting to home,” said Knight, who lives in his native Georgia in the offseason. “I just remember all of this emotion that I’ve never felt … just overpowering energy. I can’t explain how strong that adrenaline was pumping and how happy [I was]. Just one of those unreal moments that I’ve ever felt.”

Few players ever have, but this weekend, they will be together again. For Knight, it’s a long overdue reunion.

“That team is so special to me,” Knight said. “The fans, since I left, never has any fan said anything to me but sweet, positive things. And they were really good to me. … They probably pulled harder for me than any fans I ever had.”