P.J. Brown said Wednesday he's officially retired.

"My career ended June 17," Brown said of the day the Boston Celtics defeated the Los Angeles Lakers for the 2008 NBA title.

Brown had left a voice message to that effect nearly five months ago, on Aug. 7, but would never use the "R" word.

"I want to tell you that, I wanted to let you know that I'm officially announcing my, uh, I wanted to say I'm leaving the game," was the way Brown put it that day, stopping short of using the words 'retirement' or 'retired.' "There's been a question around here. People are asking me every day but I just wanted to let you know that today, I'm officially, uh, uh, my career ends."