Keyon Dooling could have continued playing in the NBA.

A wave of surprise hit the league last week when the Boston Celtics announced they had waived Dooling and he would be retiring from the game. Why? Why would a passionate player who loves basketball -- and, just as importantly, the Celtics organization and his teammates -- hang it all up when he had the opportunity to play on a squad he believes will win it all this season?

Sometimes the biggest factors in an athletes life have nothing to do with the sport he or she plays. In this case, Doolings decision to leave the NBA didnt have much to do with basketball at all.

* * * * Laughter bounced off the beige walls of the Dooling household as his loved ones filled the rooms with warmth and happiness. On this particular late September evening, Dooling, his wife Natosha, daughters Deneal (11), Gabrielle (9) and Jordan (5), son Keyon Jr. (2), cousin Kevin (17), brother Cedric Johnson, and godbrother Harry Turner had gathered together. These were the people Dooling had left every few days for a road series. These were the people who had shared his attention with the demanding NBA schedule.

The average career is 4 1/2 years and I tripled that, almost, Dooling told CSNNE.com as he settled into a brown leather chair at the marble high top table in his dining room, his usual three-piece suit traded for a tailored, buttondown shirt and jeans. The grind of the NBA just has taken its toll on me, on my body. More so than that, my family . . . Ive missed birthdays, school conferences, dropping my kids off, school plays, school dances. Ive missed just being daddy so much.

"I have enough. I have all the resources I need, Im a blessed man. Im not limping away; I was able to walk away.

Dooling, the 10th overall pick in the 2000 NBA Draft, contemplated retirement five years ago. Then a member of the Orlando Magic, he underwent tests that revealed a degenerative hip. But at the time he was only 27, too young to stop. Besides, no one wanted him to.

I [thought about retirement] as soon as I found out [about the hip issue], Dooling explained. But I played ball for everybody else, for my family, and I still loved to play. I was still willing to go through that grind. Ive taken medicine, Ive gotten shots, Ive done a lot of things to be able to go out on that court. But I couldnt let my family down. They love to see me play ball.

Doolings career was never about himself. Thats not the way he lives his life. The needs of others have always come first, whether it's a close family member, a teammate, or a distant friend of someone he knows.

His willingness to help those around him made him one of the most accessible players in the NBA. From All-Stars like Dwight Howard and Rajon Rondo to players like Trevor Ariza, Courtney Lee and Jameer Nelson, Dooling -- the first vice-president of the NBA Players Association -- has spent personal time with countless athletes around the league, listening to their stories, offering advice, and providing a shoulder to lean on and a place to turn.

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CSN: Dooling tired of lonely' life, retires from NBA