| | Associated Press
INDIANAPOLIS -- Rik Smits and his aching legs finally had
enough.
The 7-foot-4 center of the Indiana Pacers retired Wednesday,
becoming the third starter and fourth player to leave the team that
reached the NBA Finals last season.
|  | | Rik Smits gives his goodbyes while Pacers president Donnie Walsh looks on. |
"I always felt like I would retire at or near the top," he
said during a news conference at Conseco Fieldhouse. "This past
year, I felt I went a little over the top."
The 34-year-old Smits spent his entire 12-year NBA career with
Indiana. He had been bothered for several years by foot and knee
ailments and considered retirement a year ago.
"I said from the beginning as soon as I'm going downhill or I'm
over the hill, I'd like to call it quits," he said.
In recent years, Smits would encase his size-21 feet in ice
after games and get foot massages from the trainer.
Smits, with a soft touch and one of the NBA's best-shooting
centers, averaged 14.8 points and 6.1 rebounds a game for his
career and was the team's all-time leader in blocked shots. He
reached the championship round for the first time last season when
the Pacers lost in six games to the Los Angeles Lakers.
"Last year, I was ready to retire but I worked out during the
summer and my feet felt good, he said. "This time, I worked out
and the aches and pains were coming back and my knees started
hurting."
Smits said he wants to spend more time with his wife, Candice,
and their 7-year-old daughter, Jasmine, and 4-year-old son, Derrik.
He plans to stay in Indianapolis at least two more years while his
wife takes classes at Butler University.
"Rik is a guy we couldn't replace," Pacers president Donnie
Walsh said. "With some of the other departures, we knew would
could replace their positions. ... But Rik was the mainstay of the
team in a lot of ways."
Walsh said Smits told him a few weeks ago he was going to
retire, but he asked him to think it over. He did the same thing
last year.
"I pretty much had made up my mind," Smits said. "But last
year it didn't take long. I knew it was right to come back. This
year, it didn't happen."
On Tuesday, Smits met with coach Isiah Thomas and several
players, including Jalen Rose, Austin Croshere and Derrick McKey.
They couldn't persuade him to stay, either.
"This changes the way we approach the season," Thomas said.
"Our expectations are drastically different now. He was a key to
the Pacers' winning.
"A lot of positions you can replace, but when you lose a Rik
Smits, you can't replace guys like that."
The Pacers have two other centers, 39-year-old Sam Perkins and
Zan Tabak. Another possibility is 6-10 Jermaine O'Neal, acquired in
a recent trade with Portland for forward Dale Davis.
When the Pacers open training camp next week in Orlando, Fla.,
they'll also be missing point guard Mark Jackson, who signed with
the Toronto Raptors, and veteran Chris Mullin, who was released at
his request.
Smits was born in the Netherlands and played in college at
Marist. He was the second overall pick in the 1988 draft, with
injuries plaguing him throughout his NBA career.
He had surgery to repair nerve damage in both feet in 1996. He
missed 30 games during the 1996-97 season and nine games in the
1997-98 season because of foot problems.
He won a spot in the NBA All-Star Game in 1998 and hired a
special trainer to work with him the next season. He missed only
one game that year, and that was because of the flu.
In the team record book, he is second only to Reggie Miller in
seasons, games, minutes and field goals.
"I'm sure I won't miss training camp at all," Smits said.
"But it's going to be tough watching the guys on TV or coming here
for some games, which I'm sure I'll do." | |
AUDIO/VIDEO
 Rik Smits won't miss the pain of playing.
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Donnie Walsh remembers Rik Smits as a mainstay of the Pacers.
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RealAudio: 14.4 | 28.8 | 56.6
Donnie Walsh talks about how the loss of Rik Smits will affect the Pacers.
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