From Journeyman to NBA Finals MVP Point Guard Chauncey Billups has certainly seen it all in his NBA career. Chauncey Billups was drafted by The Boston Celtics in 1997 with the 3rd overall pick where he only lasted 51 games under Head Coach at the time Rick Pitino. Billups was traded to Toronto after Boston failed to decide what position he would play for team and that didn’t sit well with Billups. After that season he was traded to his hometown team in Denver and then eventually traded to Orlando where he never did suit up for.
After Chauncey’s stop in Minnesota where he was a back up Point Guard to Terrell Brandon, and he didn’t really make his name until his stop in Detroit. Before Detroit Chauncey was thought of as a draft bust, but that analysis was very off base in my opinion. Sure Billups at that point in his career looked like a huge question mark, but he never received consistent minutes at the proper position.
The position he truly deserved minutes at and The Detroit Pistons were the ones to find the diamond in the rough that turned out to be Billups. Billups 16 PPG and 5 AST’s in a championship run for the ages and one of the more memorable Finals series to date. The Detroit Pistons faced a Los Angeles Lakers team that had Kobe Bryant and Shaquille O’Neal who looked nearly unstoppable, but Billups led the charge to sweep the Lakers which stunned the country. That season “Mr. Big Shot” as they called him won Finals MVP and deservedly so.
Eventually Billups would be traded in 2008-2009 to The Denver Nuggets in the biggest head scratching trade of Joe Dumars’s tenure as General Manager. Dumar traded Billups back to Denver which was a steal for The Nuggets giving George Karl and Carmelo Anthony a real chance to compete in the West which ultimately failed like many other times in Karl’s coaching career.
Interview via. Marc Spears of Yahoo! Sports:
“It’s just time. I know when it’s time,” Billups told Yahoo Sports. “My mind and my desire is still strong. I just can’t ignore the fact that I haven’t been healthy for three years. I can try again and get to a point where I think I can go, but I just can’t sustain. Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that’s when you kind of know it’s that time.
Billups left behind an opportunity for a title run with Cleveland who considered pursuing the veteran, but clearly Billups knew it was time to move on from his playing career. Billups made the right choice since he’s been dealing with injuries since the 2011-2012 season in Los Angeles and Billups did look like a shell of himself last season in limited playing time.
There’s no doubt Chauncey’s career is Hall Of Fame worthy, but the question is will he get the votes? Unfortunately his number don’t serve him justice. Billups in my eyes will forever be known as a tough defender and an excellent leader who led his Pistons teams to two Finals appearances, but if The Pistons had the ball in the final seconds and needed a go ahead bucket you knew Billups was getting the ball and that’s the way he will always be remembered as “Mr. Big Shot”.
https://youtu.be/BRqfnQdy1mA
Let us know @NBAcourtside_ if you think Chauncey Billups’ career is Hall Of Fame Worthy or not.
