Ex-BU star Anthony Parker retires from NBA

Anthony Parker announced his retirement from the NBA on Wednesday.

The former Bradley University star told the Cleveland Plain Dealer his nine-year NBA career -- the last three years of which were spent as a shooting guard with the Cleveland Cavaliers -- is over.

The move was anticipated from Parker, 37, who played on Cleveland's 60+ victory teams with LeBron James.

"I wanted to make that decision after the season and make sure that is what I wanted to do," Parker told the PD. "I'm at peace with it and excited for whatever the future has for me."

Parker says he will seek a broadcasting or front office position that will keep him in the game.

Parker appeared in 51 games last season and was a mentor to NBA Rookie of the Year guard Kyrie Irving with the rebuilding Cleveland team.

He averaged 9.1 points and 2.3 assists per game in a 494-game NBA career with Cleveland, Orlando, Philadelphia and Toronto.

He was a career 40-percent shooter from 3-point range and put in 79.4 percent of his free throws.

Parker was a first-round pick (21st overall) by New Jersey in the 1997 NBA Draft, and went on to earn $23.4 million over his NBA career, according to published salary reports.

The Naperville native played at Bradley from 1993-97, finished eighth on BU's all-time scoring list with 1,683 points and was the 1996 Missouri Valley Conference Player of the Year.

He played five seasons in Israel with Maccabi Tel Aviv, where the team won three European championships.