"After carrying five centers last season, the Miami Heat's glut in the middle apparently will be reduced going forward, with Zydrunas Ilgauskas telling the Cleveland Plain-Dealer he is retiring.

Ilgauskas went from regular-season starter to postseason afterthought last season, replaced as the starting center during the Heat's postseason run to the NBA Finals by Joel Anthony.

The 36-year-old former All-Star nonetheless last June invoked the $1.4 million 2011-12 option on his the two-year Heat contract he signed in the 2010 offseason, to accompany former Cleveland Cavaliers teammate LeBron James to South Florida. He will now walk away from that guarantee.

"Enough is enough," he told the Plain-Dealer. "My body is beat up and I'm tired physically. There is no age limit, but everyone knows when it's time."