Difficult decision for Jermaine O'Neal

"Having finally faced the reality that his season is done, Jermaine O'Neal must now decide whether to end his NBA career after 16 seasons. The Celtics center will have surgery on his left wrist, but he has until next week to let his doctors know whether it will be a bone fusion, which he will need at some point regardless of his basketball future, or a more modest procedure that would allow him to try to play again next season. "As a player, you always want to leave the game on your own terms," O'Neal, who will turn 34 in October, said last night. "I know what I'm dealing with physically, but I know it's going to be hard if I don't play again. I've played in the NBA literally half my life. That's what I know. Basketball is the core of what I've been doing. I think sometimes as players we have to be totally honest with ourselves, and that's based on our professional lives and our personal lives. That's what it came down to for me. We did everything we could to try to get me back playing this year. "I don't want to be 60 before I'm 40. I don't want to be broken down.""