PORTLAND, Ore. (AP) Former NBA All-Star Terrell Brandon was surrounded by his family and friends at his retail store in Portland when he formally, and tearfully, announced his retirement.

``I'm not perfect, but I always tried to handle myself like a man and not embarrass myself,'' Brandon said.

He called it quits Tuesday after missing most of the past three seasons with knee injuries. He had already discussed his retirement after a trade last summer sent him from the Minnesota Timberwolves to the Atlanta Hawks, a deal that was purely financial.

He said he needed to wait until the paperwork was complete to make it official.

Brandon, a 5-foot-11 point guard who grew up in Portland and played his college ball at Oregon, was waived by the Hawks on Feb. 19, the trading deadline _ the same day the Hawks dealt former Trail Blazer Rasheed Wallace to the Detroit Pistons as part of a three-team deal.

``I didn't want to be in the way. I didn't want to be a distraction,'' he said.

Brandon, flanked by his parents and his agent, Bill Duffy, appeared at his commercial complex in North Portland, known as The Brandon Building. It houses his offices, a barbershop and a retail clothing store.

He burst into tears several times as he thanked those responsible for his career, including his pastor and his high school coach at Grant High School, which Brandon led to a state title his senior year.

At Oregon, Brandon was the Pacific-10 Conference player of the year in 1991 after averaging a school-record 26.6 points per game. He was the 11th overall draft pick by Cleveland that year.

Brandon averaged 13.8 points and 6.1 assists per game with Cleveland, Milwaukee and Minnesota. However, he often was plagued by injuries. His last NBA game came with the Timberwolves in February 2001.

Last offseason, Brandon was part of a four-team deal that brought Latrell Sprewell to the Timberwolves. He was attractive to Atlanta because his $11 million-plus contract was due to come off the salary cap in February. Atlanta could then use that space to have extra maneuverability on the free agent market or in trades.

Brandon, 33, never played a game with the Hawks.

``That was business,'' he said.