The seven-year Hawks veteran knew then his time at the club was up and was just mulling over when to pull the plug on his time at Illawarra, which started in 2015.

The former captain, who had significantly less time on court last campaign, took to social media on Sunday night to officially announce his retirement.

"The time has come for me to hang up the boots," Ogilvy, 34, wrote on social media.

"Thank you to the Illawarra region for welcoming me into the community and being home for the past 7 years. It's been real."

The following day he told the Mercury he had no regrets and was looking forward to starting the next chapter of his life.

"It wasn't like I decided recently. I've known for awhile, I just chose yesterday to announce it," Ogilvy said.

"Look, it felt a bit strange watching training and not being involved. I will miss playing but it's the right decision."

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Ogilvy made the decision to draw curtains on his professional career, which included stints playing in Germany, Turkey and Spain, a day before the Hawks announced the signing of former Phoenix Suns draftee George King.

He wished the club, where he enjoyed much more ups than downs, well for the season coming.

"It was a great seven years," he said. "Obviously the winning years were more memorable years but I'd say my second year when we made the grand final, was especially good.

"The three years we've made the semi-finals have also been memorable, particularly the last two when I was club captain. I don't think there's much more of a better way to go out then being coached by Brian Goorjian. I would have liked to make the grand final the last one and win it all but things don't always pan out that way."

Other career highlights included winning the German league with Brose Baskets and finishing runner-up in the Euro Cup while playing in Spain.

But it was when he was playing in Turkey for Beiktas that Ogilvy got to play alongside 76ers great Allen Iverson.

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"He is easily the best player I've ever played with or against," he said.

"[Andrew] Bogut is probably the best Australian I've played against. Although I really enjoyed playing with Nick Kay when he was at the Hawks.

"LaMelo Ball was another standout. He was kind of the start of his career but you could definitely see flashes of what he was going to become. I didn't know he would progress this quickly but it is exciting to see the path he has taken."

Illawarra Hawks basketball operations president Mat Campbell said Ogilvy would be remembered as a great person and fantastic player for the club.

"AJ has been phenomenal. When he first got to our club, he tracked the team pretty much straight into a finals series and then into a grand final on the back of him being very consistent and a dominant big," he said.

"What he has been able to provide to the Hawks for the last seven years as well as to the community has been great."

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