Mostly, I'm just amused that this is even any sort of story at all. Seems like the type of thing the media could have chosen to not cover and we all could have just taken for granted.
As reported by the Indianapolis Star:
If the Indiana Pacers want to part ways with Jermaine O'Neal, they'll have to trade him.
O'Neal's representatives recently informed the Pacers he will not opt out of the final two years of his contract. O'Neal had until June 30 to decide whether to become an unrestricted free agent.
The Pacers weren't surprised.
No, indeed they weren't.
Glad to see O'Neal has some financial savvy.
Spend a few years largely injured. Drop level of play big-time. Decide to take a guaranteed $44 million rather than testing the market when one's stock is at an all-time low. Works for me.
I'll still maintain that in the right situation, JO can regain his former identity, and here's hoping basketball fans get to see that in the year to come.