Jermaine O'Neal's best all-around season ended Tuesday when he and the Indiana Pacers decided he would sit out the final two games.
The next question: Was Sunday's game against New Jersey his last in a Pacers uniform?
"I haven't thought about that at all," said O'Neal, who said several times this season he would discuss his future with team president Larry Bird and team CEO Donnie Walsh if he couldn't lead the Pacers to a championship. "It's always a possibility. Again, I promised myself I wouldn't make an emotional decision. That's why I'm not going to meet with Larry and Donnie right away. I've decided to wait until next week to meet with them.
"Let them calm down, too. Everybody needs to calm down, relax and get comfortable and try to figure out what the focus is going to be on this summer."
O'Neal, who also said he wants to retire a Pacer, is sitting to avoid further injuring his ailing left knee, which limited him the second half of the season. He wouldn't say if he will need surgery. He said he'll discuss that Thursday.
"There's no point in taking any risk," Pacers coach Rick Carlisle said. "He's been playing hurt for the past three months, and with us out of playoff contention, we're not going to take any chances."
O'Neal vowed last summer to have a career season and averaged a team-high 19.4 points, 9.6 rebounds and 2.64 blocks. While those numbers don't match his career highs, Walsh and Carlisle have said O'Neal's willingness to lead and carry a greater load on both ends of the court make this his best season.
"I don't really look at it that way because we're not in the playoffs," O'Neal said. "You can put up numbers all day in this league, but they don't matter if you don't get wins. I've been in a tough position that I have not ever been in my career. This is the first time I'm not going to playoffs, going all the way back to AAU."
O'Neal said he will keep in touch with playoff action around the league. He said he'll watch Golden State if it holds onto the eighth spot in the Western Conference. O'Neal will fly to Oakland, Calif., for Game 3 or 4 to support former teammate and best friend Al Harrington, who was part of an eight-player trade in January.
The two never meshed on the court, however, and some believe the Pacers gave up on the duo too early. O'Neal said he doesn't wonder what could have been.
"You don't ever think about, 'what if,' " O'Neal said. "The reality is they're on the verge of being in and we're out. That's the reality of it. I'm happy for him and he said he's really, really happy."
For next season, O'Neal said the Pacers need a shooter who can get himself open in one-on-one situations.
"That makes the defense pay attention to that guy," said O'Neal, who faced frequent double teams. "We don't really have that guy. We need a guy that can get his shot any time, which may be the most difficult thing. Most of those types of shooters are All-Star players and teams don't want to give them up.
"We just have to figure out a way to put a group out there that can be together first and foremost. We have to stay with the group we have and not make any changes at midpoint."
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