Celtics center Jermaine O'Neal is coming off a max-level contract that he claims he didn't know put him among the NBA's highest-paid players.

O'Neal signed the seven-year, $126 million contract with the Pacers before being dealt to the Raptors and then the Heat.

"I didn't even realize until this summer that over the last seven years I was one of the top three paid players in the entire NBA," O'Neal said. "I never knew that.

"I never looked at that money as being pressure. To be honest, towards the last two or three years, I felt like I wasn't doing enough to earn my money. I'm very critical of myself."