Jermaine O'Neal declared his future with the Indiana Pacers uncertain Wednesday in the wake of the news that Isiah Thomas had been fired as coach.

O'Neal, a member of the USA Basketball national team that defeated Mexico 96-69 Wednesday night, said he was stunned and angered by the decision, although he was calm and smiling with reporters after the game.

"I'm extremely upset. If it wasn't for Isiah Thomas, I wouldn't be here," O'Neal said. "Isiah has given me the confidence to be not only the player I am today, but the father and the son that I am today. He's sat down and been a father figure for me. I was just sitting there trying to grasp going into the season without him."

O'Neal, who signed a seven-year, $126 million contract with the Pacers on July 16, said he would not have re-signed with the Pacers if he had known Thomas would not be his coach next season.

He acknowledged that he feels deceived by the Pacers, but stopped short of saying he would demand a trade. Not yet, anyway.

"I don't want to get into that now," he said. "I'm here to accomplish one goal and that's to play for USA Basketball. I'll handle everything else next week.

"I'm going to go (back to Indianapolis) next week sometime and try to figure where my future is with the team."