Jermaine O’Neal thinks he can still play in the NBA, but will he?
Ever since the Dallas Mavericks traded Brandan Wright in exchange for Rajon Rondo at the end of last week, leaving Greg Smith atop the depth chart behind 32-year-old center Tyson Chandler, rumors have swirled around Mark Cuban potentially signing free agent veteran backup big Jermaine O’Neal.
On Tuesday, O’Neal addressed those rumblings in a series of 140-character posts on Twitter, suggesting he will leave his decision entirely up to his wife and two children while maintaining he still loves the game of basketball, is better than most bigs still in the league and will be ready to contribute on short notice.
O’Neal, 36, played for the Portland Trail Blazers, Indiana Pacers, Toronto Raptors, Miami Heat, Boston Celtics, Phoenix Suns and Golden State Warriors in his 18 previous seasons, most recently averaging 7.9 points and 5.5 rebounds over 44 games for the Warriors last season before calling it quits. His 15.3 player efficiency rating in 2013-14, per Basketball Reference, put him right around that 60th percentile.
While O’Neal did not reference the Mavericks by name, he currently lives in the Dallas area, played under current Mavs coach Rick Carlisle for four of his most productive seasons on the Pacers and teamed with Rondo on the Celtics from 2010-12. Based on Tuesday’s tweets, the pull of family is clearly weighing heavily on O’Neal, who offered a justification should he not choose to play for Dallas this season.
O’Neal has contemplated retirement for the past five seasons due to a series of knee problems, slowly shifting his focus to fashion, high-tech gym shorts and other business ventures beyond basketball, so he also addressed concerns about his commitment. “I will say this,” he added, “if the decision is to play I promise you that when I hit the court I will be ready physically and mentally to help a team!”
Carlisle also didn’t shy away from the subject when pressed by the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
“Well he’s had a terrific year, had a real solid year last year for Golden State despite having some injury issues,” Carlisle told the paper. “I have not talked to him yet myself. It’s a possibility, but I don’t want to jump the gun out of respect to him and his family, so we’ll see. It’s certainly one option.”
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Ben Rohrbach is a contributor for Ball Don’t Lie and Shutdown Corner on Yahoo Sports. Have a tip? Email him at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter! Follow @brohrbach
