Quotes from Jermaine O'Neal

Even though I was still able to make some All-Star teams, mentally I was worn out. And once I wore out mentally, physically I started to wear down.

I made a ton of money in my career.

I played almost two years with a torn meniscus.

I remember Kenny Anderson. He's got these huge stacks of Fed Ex envelopes. They were super-packed and he'd open it up and it would be all checks. He was always signing his own checks. He would always call me Kid.' He'd say, Kid, always remember to sign your own checks. Don't allow anybody to sign your checks.'

Sometimes you wish things would have been different. People still talk about the teams in Indiana. People can't believe we didn't win a championship.

I want to make it clear that I don't want to gut a team that I come to because then it'll be like I'm in Indiana all over again.

I love everything about Indiana.

I have so much love and respect for the Indiana Pacers, for the NBA, for fans, because they do support us in many ways.

I didn't come back to Indiana just to compete. I want to win the finals.

My two years in Boston were very difficult to deal with, especially when you know that you still can play. But my knee was causing so much problems.

I really wanted to focus on my legs, and get the legs strong, get the quads strong so I can control the knee.

I was never really healthy mentally.

If I am not physically able to play for the Celtics, then why would Miami want me?

And no matter what, at the end of the day whether it's with the Pacers or somewhere else, I'm going to continue to succeed.

I've been down to the University of South Carolina, University of Maryland, Clemson, spent some time on different college campuses and I see that small-town family environment.

Professional sports is a monster. It's not even real life. It's one of the few things in life, the economy goes bad, you still get your money.

People, when they look at athletes, they tend to determine who they are based on 1., how they play, and 2. - more than anything - how much they make.

More than anything, you want to be considered a great father and a role model, especially for your kid.

God don't like ugly.

I'm a player that has sat, literally, on every side of the good, of the bad, of the ugly.

I'll go into Ruth's Chris. They'll have my room in the back and I'd go to pay the bill and somebody had paid the bill already. That happened multiple times. That's the love people give you.

Larry Bird is a hard man to deal with. He tries to make unfair trades.

Whether it's this year or next year, I don't want to leave basketball limping out of basketball. At the end of the day, we're all men and we all look at ourselves every morning and you have to ask yourself, Did I leave the way I wanted? Did I do everything I possibly could do to leave the way I want?'

I didn't meet my father until he was 30, and he died nine months after that.