The Cleveland Cavaliers' Zydrunas Ilgauskas takes in the action with his boys Deividas, 5, left, and Povilas, 4, during the Wine and Gold basketball scrimmage earlier this month in Akron, Ohio. (Phil Mastruzo/Akron Beacon Herald/Associated Press)

This NBA season may be the swan song for Zydrunas Ilgauskas.

Cleveland's veteran centre told reporters this weekend that years of professional basketball have taken a toll both mentally and physically and he is unsure how much longer he will want to compete.

"The grind gets tougher and tougher each year," said the man they call Big-Z. "A younger guy is able to recover and bounce back faster. Once you get older, it's not happening for you."

A two-time all-star, Ilgauskas will have his minutes significantly reduced this year as the Cavaliers brought in Shaquille O'Neal from the Phoenix Suns.

Cleveland went to the Eastern Conference finals last season, and the team believes that makes them a top contender in the East.

Ilgauskas has played his entire 12-year career with Cleveland and hopes to stay when his contract is up at the end of the coming season.

"I don't know what I'm going to do. I guess I'll see how this season goes and how I feel at the end. I'll decide at the end of the year if I feel like playing and what the opportunities are. I'd love to finish here."

After suffering a myriad of foot injuries early in his career, the 7-foot-5 Lithuanian has been relatively healthy, averaging 76 games played in each of his last six seasons.

With files from The Associated Press