Tony Ronaldson, known throughout the NBL as 'The Bear', has decided that 20 years of playing the game he loves with the same passion as when he started, has to stop sometime and that will be whenever the Breakers end their 2009-10 season.
It could be as early as the end of regular season play, or it could be in the play-offs, but whenever it is Ronaldson is sure in his own mind that the time is right.
He had intended playing one more season but after discussing how he felt with his wife Sarah, the decision was to give the game away while he felt he could still compete and play at the top level.
He wasn't a 38-year-old who could sit on the end of the bench waiting for game time, he said.
As for his future he is undecided with no decision on whether he will live in Melbourne or in Perth, whether he will get involved in basketball again or whether he will further pursue his studies in architectural techniques.
"I don't know what's out there for me," he said. "It's pretty daunting. It's the only job I've ever known," he said.
However, his last competitive efforts with the ball will be for the Waikato side in the New Zealand NBL, where he intends to enjoy himself and have some fun.
While he said he wouldn't recommend coaching to anyone because of the amount of preparation work involved, he wasn't prepared to discount that approach in the future.
He wasn't able to say exactly why he had been able to play the game for so many years. He said he wasn't an athlete, he couldn't run like some and he couldn't jump like others.
"I can't put it down to anything because I am a heavier guy and a lot of people could say that the pounding and pressure on your joints over the course of 20 years would take their wear and tear. I'd like to say I've been looking after my body and eating perfectly all my career but we all know that's not true.
"I can't tell you the truth, I don't know, I don't have that magic answer," he said.
However, he did say that he had changed his style of game to last longer in the league and while the high-scoring exploits had been possible once every two weeks, it was much less often now and even then it was 'slowly starting to go'.
Asked about the highlights of his career he said anytime he played for Australia was a 'huge thing'.
And that was the same whether it was at the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta or on an end-of-season tour in Europe when the side played five games in 10 days.
"Playing for Australia was what I aspired to. I still remember telling my father when I was 14 that I wanted to play basketball for Australia so that's something I'm pretty proud of that I fulfilled," he said.
The opportunities for young players now were good, and especially for talented young New Zealanders coming through. There was now something for players to aim at if they didn't make the NBA or the top leagues in Europe.
Players like Corey Webster or Thomas Abercrombie in New Zealand had a massive, and exciting, time to look forward to, he said.
Breakers coach Andrej Lemanis said it had