So long Mr. Big Shot! <blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Ex-Pistons star Chauncey Billups tells Yahoo he is retiring after 17 years."It's just time," '04 NBA Finals MVP said. <a href="http://t.co/FzKH1KvTFw">http://t.co/FzKH1KvTFw</a></p>— Marc J. Spears (@SpearsNBAYahoo) <a href="https://twitter.com/SpearsNBAYahoo/status/509516167535280128">September 10, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script> [rQUOTEr]Chauncey Billups, the 2004 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player and former Detroit Pistons star, told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday he is retiring after 17 NBA seasons. ... "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. "It's just time. I'm happy, excited. The game was very, very good to me. I felt like I was equally as good to the game the way I played it and the way I respected it and the way I carried myself through the process." Billups was best known for his first stay with the Pistons from 2002-08. He earned the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for his clutch shooting when he led Detroit to the 2004 NBA championship and another Finals appearance in '05. He was part of the Pistons' star foursome that also included Ben Wallace, Rip Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace. Billups said the "best memories" of his career were with the Pistons. "Before that, my career was in jeopardy in a few different stages," Billups said. "I persevered, sustained and continued to work hard, and finally got my opportunity in Detroit, and I never turned back from that point. That's what made it so sweet to me to win a championship after what I went through. I had to scrap and fight to get through it and to reach the pinnacle made it even sweeter. "Winning the championship was the ultimate. I never set out to win the [Finals] MVP. Winning the championship was enough." Billups was the third overall pick in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics, but was traded to the Toronto Raptors on Feb. 18, 1998. The Denver native turned his career around with the Minnesota Timberwolves, helped lead the Denver Nuggets to the 2009 Western Conference finals in his second stint with the team, rejoined ex-Nuggets teammate Carmelo Anthony with the New York Knicks and played alongside Chris Paul with the Los Angeles Clippers. Billups averaged 15 points, 5.4 assists and made 38.7 percent of his 3-point attempts during his NBA career. He made the All-NBA second team twice, the All-NBA third team once and the All-Defense team twice. He finished with 15,802 points, ranks 39th all-time with 5,636 assists and sixth with 1,830 3-pointers made. He also had 1,051 steals in his career. "I wanted to be one of the best players of my era at my position," Billups said. "And I did that and I earned that. No one gave that to me. I earned every single thing." ... "I put my whole life into playing basketball," Billups said. "I started at 10 years old. My goal in middle school and high school was just to go to college. I didn't feel like my parents could afford to send me to college. In fear of not achieving that goal, I had to work harder. I felt like basketball was my way of going to college. "Obviously, you get to college and you re-evaluate your goals and I wanted to go to the NBA. I didn't know it was possible, but that was my goal." Billups was a member of USA Basketball's gold-medal 2010 world championship team. He was the winner of the NBA's 2008 J. Walter Citizenship Award and also was the inaugural winner of the NBA's Twyman-Stokes Teammate of the Year Award in 2013. Billups' entire basketball resume could make the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame one day. "The Hall of Fame would be a big dream," Billups said. "It marks you down as one of the greatest players ever. It's not what I shot for, but that would absolutely be a dream. I know in my heart I had a Hall-of-Fame worthy career. If you look at most Hall of Famers, I don't know how many of them started off the way I started off and made it to the top. "I don't know what will happen. I do feel I had a Hall-of-Fame career. But there have been a lot of Hall-of-Fame careers other than me." ... While Billups is retiring, he said his body actually now feels "the best that I felt in three years." "I'm finally 100 percent healthy," Billups said. "I feel great. But the thing is I always told myself that when I retire, one, I want to feel good. I don't want to be walking around limping. I don't want to just go out and play with my guys. I want to feel fantastic. "I didn't want to go back out with the risk of hurting myself after putting in so much work to feel good. Also, my kids are getting older. I got a junior in high school, a freshman in high school and my baby is 8. And you just can't get those years back." Billups plans on retiring in his hometown of Denver with his wife Piper and three daughters. He has long been respected in the NBA ranks and viewed as having a future as an NBA front-office executive upon retirement, but he says nothing is imminent. He also is considering some TV opportunities that could materialize next season. Billups remains strongly involved in Porter-Billups Leadership Academy in Denver. He also co-owns 30 Wendy's fast-food franchises with former NBA player Junior Bridgeman in the St. Louis area. "Right now, I am kind of taking it easy," Billups said. "I have always said I had a desire to work in a front office somewhere or also do TV commentating or studio work. Those are the things I desire the most. But at the moment I'll enjoying taking it easy. We'll see where it leads."[/rQUOTEr]
One of the good ones is stepping down while he can still "walk without a limp". Seems he's one of the smart ones also! Good luck & have fun with the family!
I greatly respected him. A real champion. I wanted him on the Rockets when he was in Detroit. Good luck Mr. Billups. You will be missed.
Definitely one of my more favorite players in recent memory. Just a really cool dude in general. Enjoy the fruits of your labor Chauncey!
I feel like he'll be a head coach very soon. He's kind of unlucky Van Gundy showed up, otherwise Billups may be a year away from being the perfect coach for the Pistons. They won't be able to get rid of Jennings or Smith, and Billups is the perfect guy who has a shot at turning them around. He's spent a lot of time doing assistant work. I hope he signs on as an Assistant to Van Gundy, I think there's a lot to learn there. I can definitely see him being a better head coach than Jason Kidd or Derek Fisher, and I wouldn't mind at all having him as our coach if he's got a good staff.
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" lang="en"><p>Chauncey Billups joining ESPN as NBA studio analyst <a href="http://t.co/UtlsKkyVe2">http://t.co/UtlsKkyVe2</a> <a href="http://t.co/c4dmiLEFMh">pic.twitter.com/c4dmiLEFMh</a></p>— Sports Illustrated (@SInow) <a href="https://twitter.com/SInow/status/522133135451230210">October 14, 2014</a></blockquote> <script async src="//platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
Not easy and probably not a HOF. Very good player. Clutch, great leader, and played defense. I remember he and Rip shooting desperation 3's in the closing seconds vs the Rockets a few years back. Fortunately they missed and the Rox won.
