32-year-old veteran Darren Collison took the basketball world by surprise when he announced his retirement just this summer. The 6-foot point guard was a coveted free agent this offseason, with many teams looking to add his veteran presence in their backcourt. However, as it turns out, Collison just knew that his time was up.

In a recent interview, the former UCLA standout admitted that this came as somewhat of a surprise to himself as well.

“It's not something you plan on doing,” he said this week from his home in Rancho Cucamonga, Calif, via Mark Montieth of NBA.com. “It just happens.

“I didn't think I would retire after 10 years. I thought I would play for a very long time. I still want to. It's my heart and passion.”

Nevertheless, Collison went on to say that he has no regrets, and that he is delighted to now have more time to spend with his family.

“It makes me feel good, just being able to be around my son and groom him every single day and help him grow,” Darren Collison explained. “I just finished doing homework with him. We spent an hour together. He wants to do more homework because he got a chance to do it with me. He's clinging to me at the hip.

“The amount of time I spend with my family, you can't put a price on that.”

Finally, Collison ended by saying that he is confident that he left everything on the court in his decade-lone career, and that he feels nothing short of accomplished from what has been a tremendous experience for him.

“In my 10 years I gave the game everything I've got, whether it was on the court or off,” he said. “I didn't have to be an All-Star or Hall of Famer. I would have loved to have won a championship, but you can't define your career by that.”

Best of luck to you, Darren, as you embark on the next stage of your life.