59 Facts About Chauncey Billups

1.

Chauncey Ray Billups was born on September 25,1976 and is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach for the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association.

2.

Chauncey Billups won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004 after helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname "Mr Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit.

3.

Chauncey Billups worked as a studio analyst after his retiring from playing in 2014.

4.

Chauncey Billups was appointed as head coach of the Trail Blazers in 2021.

5.

Chauncey Billups was selected to the 1995 McDonald's All-American Team but did not play due to a shoulder injury.

6.

For college, Chauncey Billups chose the University of Colorado Boulder over Kansas, Georgia Tech, University of California-Berkeley, and Oklahoma State.

7.

Chauncey Billups averaged 18.5 points, 5.1 assists, and 5.6 rebounds per game over his two seasons with the Buffaloes.

8.

Chauncey Billups then led the Buffaloes to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 28 years.

9.

Chauncey Billups averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds, and 3.0 assists per game.

10.

Chauncey Billups was drafted third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics.

11.

Chauncey Billups did not mesh with new Celtics head coach Rick Pitino.

12.

Fifty-one games later, Chauncey Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors on the trade deadline.

13.

On February 18,1998, Chauncey Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors, along with Roy Rogers, Dee Brown, and John Thomas in exchange for All-Star point guard Kenny Anderson, Zan Tabak, and Popeye Jones.

14.

On January 21,1999, Chauncey Billups was dealt to his hometown Denver Nuggets in a three-way deal involving one of Chauncey Billups's future teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves.

15.

Three months into his first tenure with the Nuggets, Chauncey Billups visited a local Denver hospital in order to comfort and inspire Patrick Ireland, a victim of the 1999 Columbine High School Shooting Massacre.

16.

Chauncey Billups was on the injured list until season's end due to an injured shoulder and never played a game for the Magic.

17.

Chauncey Billups was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves as a back-up to then point guard Terrell Brandon, who would mentor the troubled player alongside Sam Mitchell, Wally Szczerbiak, and Kevin Garnett.

18.

The Timberwolves won 50 games before they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, with Chauncey Billups averaging 22 points per game in the series.

19.

Chauncey Billups wanted to return to the Timberwolves, but the team wanted to see how Brandon would respond to his knee injury.

20.

In June 2002, Chauncey Billups signed a 5-year, $35 million contract with the Detroit Pistons to be the team's new starting point guard.

21.

Chauncey Billups quickly earned respect from Pistons fans and colleagues for his tenacious defense and clutch shooting.

22.

Chauncey Billups earned the nickname "Mr Big-Shot" during the regular season for two events.

23.

Chauncey Billups averaged per game 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, as well as shooting 50.1 percent field goals, 47.1 percent three-pointers, and 92.9 percent free throws to earn the NBA Finals MVP Award.

24.

Chauncey Billups was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve for the Eastern Conference, along with teammates Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace.

25.

Chauncey Billups was eliminated in the first round of the contest after scoring 12 points.

26.

Chauncey Billups called this moment when all four Pistons entered the game at the same time, one of the highlight moments of his career.

27.

Chauncey Billups took part in the Shooting Stars Competition alongside former Piston and Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer and Shock star Swin Cash.

28.

Team Detroit won the competition with Chauncey Billups hitting the final half-court shot.

29.

On July 11,2007, Chauncey Billups signed a $46 million, four-year contract with the Pistons.

30.

Chauncey Billups had been an unrestricted free agent for several days after he opted out of the previous contract, which he had signed in 2002.

31.

Chauncey Billups was selected to play as a reserve in the 2008 NBA All-Star Game, along with teammates Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace, an injury replacement.

32.

Chauncey Billups would sit for the 3 remaining games of the series.

33.

On November 3,2008, Chauncey Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb for Allen Iverson.

34.

Chauncey Billups was the only Nugget to be selected to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.

35.

Chauncey Billups finished the season averaging 17.7 points and 6.4 assists per game.

36.

Chauncey Billups set a Nuggets franchise record with the most three-pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 three-pointers in total is a Nuggets record for threes made in a playoff series.

37.

Chauncey Billups joined Magic Johnson, Michael Cooper, Kareem Abdul-Jabbar, and Kurt Rambis as the only players to accomplish this feat since the Boston Celtics of the 1950s and 1960s led by Bill Russell.

38.

Chauncey Billups finished the season sixth in voting for the 2009 NBA Most Valuable Player Award.

39.

Chauncey Billups was selected to his second All-NBA Third Team.

40.

On February 5,2010, Chauncey Billups set a career high in points with a 39-point performance in a road win over the Los Angeles Lakers with 27 of them coming from 9 three-pointers.

41.

Chauncey Billups was chosen as the replacement by David Stern for injured New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.

42.

Chauncey Billups suffered a knee injury while playing against the Celtics in Game 1 of the 2011 NBA Playoffs.

43.

The injury would keep Chauncey Billups sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs.

44.

Shortly after the Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs by the Boston Celtics, Chauncey Billups mentioned he would love to return to the Knicks next season.

45.

Chauncey Billups indicated that he didn't want to be picked up by a team that was not contending for a championship and said he would retire if he was, pushing the NBA to warn him and his agent that he would be "in breach of his contract" if he did not show up.

46.

On July 13,2012, Chauncey Billups re-signed with the Clippers on a one-year deal.

47.

Chauncey Billups made his season debut on November 28,2012, against the Minnesota Timberwolves.

48.

Chauncey Billups was limited to only 22 games during the season because of various injuries, including a sore back and tendinitis in his left foot.

49.

On July 16,2013, Chauncey Billups signed a two-year, $5 million contract to return to the Detroit Pistons.

50.

On September 9,2014, Chauncey Billups announced his retirement from the NBA after 17 years.

51.

Chauncey Billups cited his health as the main reason for his retirement, as he never appeared in more than 22 games in his last three seasons in the league.

52.

In 2017, the creation of the 3-on-3 professional basketball league BIG3 was announced, with Chauncey Billups set to be a player for the Killer 3's.

53.

On November 8,2020, Chauncey Billups was hired as an assistant coach for the Los Angeles Clippers under head coach Tyronn Lue.

54.

On June 27,2021, Chauncey Billups was hired as head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers.

55.

Finally, on August 16,2019, Chauncey Billups announced that he was exiting his role on NBA Countdown to become the game analyst on Los Angeles Clippers telecasts as part of that team's restructuring of the broadcast crew due to the retirement of longtime play-by-play announcer Ralph Lawler.

56.

Chauncey Billups indicated that he would continue to call selected NBA game telecasts on ESPN in addition to his duties with the Clippers.

57.

Chauncey Billups is the first cousin of running back LenDale White.

58.

Chauncey Billups was featured on the cover of the video game NBA Ballers: Phenom and is the player's mentor.

59.

On June 16,2008, Chauncey Billups appeared at Joe Louis Arena for a Barack Obama rally.