Redd not ready to call it quits

Michael Redd could have quit. He could have walked away from the game and no one would have thought less of him. As he lay prone on the Staples Center floor last January, the ACL and MCL in his left knee shredded for the second time in less than a year, Redd had few reasons to pick himself back up. He had earned more than $100 million in his career. He had made an All-Star team and won an Olympic gold medal. By anyone's measure, Redd's career had been a success.

But he didn't quit. He got up (again), had surgery (again) and put his body through a sometimes-painful, often-grueling rehab (again). For 2½ hours a day, five days a week, Redd, 31, worked with trainers at the Ohio State Medical Center, pounding his legs with squats and exploding drills and running his body ragged.

Today, the hard work has paid off. Working out before Milwaukee's game against the Celtics on Sunday, Redd moved fluidly, cutting and pivoting without any hesitation. His 6-foot-6 frame looked solid -- he weighs a career-low 214 pounds -- and the polished jump shot that made him one of the most dangerous shooters in the game appeared sharp.

"I just wasn't going to go out like that," Redd said. "It's not about money. It's about ending my career on my terms. I don't want to end my career limping off the floor. That motivated me, it pushed me through the physical therapy, the training, everything."

Indeed, when the doctors told him he needed another surgery, Redd had just one question: If I do this, he asked, can I get back to being the player I was?

"They said, 'Absolutely,' " Redd said. "They told me, 'Do the rehab and the therapy right, you can come back better than ever.' Because I'll be honest, I had doubts if I would be able to come back and play at the level I'm used to playing at."