Jermaine O'Neal, who will return to the floor for the Pacers on Monday against the Heat after more than two months on the bench, doesn't think he has anything to prove, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"I don't feel I have to prove anything to my doubters. I feel I need to prove it to myself," O'Neal said,"that I can get back and dominate once again. At 29, I'm not ready to give that up."

"I'm going to get some things off my chest (on the court) next season, but it's going to start with me in the summertime," Jermaine added.

Jermaine O'Neal will return for the Pacers on Monday night versus the Heat after more than two months on the sideline, according to the Indianapolis Star.

He will come off the bench and isn't expected to play more than twenty minutes a game for the time being.

"I haven't lost my defensive rhythm," O'Neal said. "Offensively it's going to take me a couple of games to get myself together, but we don't need me as much offensively now."

Jermaine O'Neal participated in Friday's shootaround and says that he could play for the Pacers against the Nets on Friday night although it's more likely that he'll return next week, according to Action News.

Indiana is 2.5 games out of the eighth playoff spot in the Eastern Conference with ten games to play.

Jermaine O'Neal believes that Donnie Walsh is one of the best front office guys in the business and that he'll thrive wherever he goes next season, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"He's one of the best, and he has been around for a long time," O'Neal said Wednesday night. "He's seen a lot of good things about putting together a team, and he's seen a lot of bad things about putting together a team. I think he has the format and knowledge of what to do and what not to do to get that team and make it better. Whether he does it or not, I don't know."

Donnie Walsh won't officially leave the Pacers until after the season, but a host of his players already miss him, according to the Indianapolis Star.

"He's always been so nice," David Harrison said. "Even when I got suspended, he was the first person I talked to about it. He always gave me good advice about life, and he's always been on my side. It's going to be tough to see him leave."

"I don't like that he's leaving," Pacers' guard Danny Granger said. "I knew I was coming to a great organization the moment I met Donnie and (team president) Larry (Bird) when I got drafted. You know he knows how to run an organization because he's been here for about as long as I've been alive. Wherever he goes, I'm sure he'll do a good job."

While he is currently denying an agreement to join the Knicks, a person close to Pacers CEO Donnie Walsh told the New York Daily News Tuesday that he has been offered the job.

"If Donnie is saying he hasn't accepted anything then nothing is done but he has an offer," the NBA source told the News. "I think it is safe to say they have a handshake agreement."

Walsh's possible presence in New York does not bode well for Isiah Thomas, who has repeatedly claimed he is not worried about his future with the Knicks.

The Pacers said on Tuesday that Donnie Walsh has not agreed to a 3-year, $15 million deal with the Knicks, according to the Indianapolis Star.

ESPN first reported on Monday night that New York had struck a deal that would put Walsh in the team's front office.

Walsh declined comment on Tuesday morning, but Pacers' spokesman David Benner said Walsh "hasn?t agreed to anything with anybody."

Donnie Walsh is heading to the Big Apple after 24 years with the Indiana Pacers.

Walsh will join the New York Knicks next season with a three-year deal worth $15 million to overssee Basketball Operations.

This move further puts in doubt current president of basketball operations and head coach Isiah Thomas but he had nothing but good words to say about the man who gave him his first head coaching position.

"He's had a great career, he's one of the best who's ever done it," Thomas said before the Knicks lost to New Jersey to fall to 19-51 on the season. "I wish him great success and he's someone that I respect tremendously. He gave me my first coaching job and I truly do like him as a person and he's done a lot for the game."

The Indiana Pacers announced Monday that CEO and President Donnie Walsh is leaving the franchise at the end of this season, and Larry Bird will continue to lead the basketball side of the franchise as President of Basketball Operations.

In making the announcement, Pacers' co-owner Herb Simon said, ?I?ve enjoyed working with Donnie Walsh for 24 years, and I?ve gained enormous respect for him as a basketball man and as a person. He ran this franchise with tremendous integrity and honesty and is regarded as one of the very best in the NBA. Larry could not have had a better mentor to prepare him for the work that needs to be done to restore this franchise to the elite level.?

Walsh came to the franchise as an assistant coach in 1984, became general manager in 1986, and has served as president since 1988. In his 22 years of overseeing the franchise, the Pacers won three Central Division Championships and made the NBA Playoffs 17 times with six trips to the Eastern Conference Finals and one trip to the NBA Finals (2000).

?I made it clear from the beginning of the season this would be my last year,? said Walsh. ?When I accepted this part of the job 22 years ago it was my dream job, and it has lived up to it in every way. There are no finer owners in the NBA than Mel and Herb Simon. They have been friends and supporters throughout. I?ve also been privileged to work with some of the finest coaches and players in basketball as well as a front office that made us a model franchise. I want to thank the fans for their great support over the years and the people of Indianapolis and Indiana for welcoming my family and me the way they did.?

It appears as though Donnie Walsh wants to remain in Indiana, spurring the Knicks pending opening, but he won't make a decision until after the season is over, according to the New York Post.

"I'm not going to have any comment until after the season," Walsh told the Post.

He did make a comment that seemed to confirm his desire to remain apart of the Pacers' organization though.

"Just look back to what I've always said about my feelings on the Pacers," Walsh said in reference to whether his New York upbringing gave the Knicks an advantage.