Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups

No. 7 – Denver Nuggets
Position	Point Guard
League	NBA
Personal information
Born	(1976-09-25) September 25, 1976 Denver, Colorado
Nationality	American
Listed height	6 ft 3 in (1.91 m)
Listed weight	202 lb (92 kg)
Career information
High school	George Washington (Denver)
College	Colorado
NBA draft	1997: 3rd overall
Selected by the Boston Celtics
Playing career	1997–present
Career highlights and awards
2004 NBA Finals MVP 2004–05 NBA All-Defense Second Team 2005–06 NBA All-Defense Second Team 2005–06 All-NBA Second Team 2006, 2007, 2008 All-Star 2006–07 All-NBA Third Team 2007–08 Citizenship Award
Stats  at NBA.com
Stats  at Basketball-Reference.com

Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976, in Denver, Colorado) is an American professional basketball player. Billups is the starting point guard for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association. He played college basketball at the University of Colorado, where he was honored in 2004 as the fifth player to have his jersey, number 4, retired. He was the 2004 NBA Finals Most Valuable Player.

High school

Billups attended Denver's George Washington High School, where he was a four-time All-State first team pick, Colorado Mr. Basketball three times, and Colorado Player of the Year as a sophomore and as a junior. He was selected to the 1995 McDonald's All-American Team but did not play due to a shoulder injury, an injury that he would have a problem with off and on throughout his early career.

College

Billups attended the University of Colorado, where he averaged 18.5 points per game over his two seasons. In the 1996-97 season he was named to the Big 12 Conference First Team and the Basketball Times All-American First Team.

NBA career

Early years

Drafted third overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors in exchange for Kenny Anderson midway through his first season. Billups then played for the Denver Nuggets, who traded him to the Orlando Magic. He was on the injured list until season's end and never played a game for Orlando (he was included on the season-ending team photo, wearing jersey number 2).

Billups was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves as a back-up to then point guard Terrell Brandon. Billups replaced the often-injured Brandon and had a breakthrough 2001-02 season.

Detroit Pistons

In June 2002, Billups signed with the Detroit Pistons as a free agent to be the team's new starting point guard. When he signed with the Pistons, he was forced to take the number 1 (ironically, the Pistons' number 1 jersey was originally worn by Lindsey Hunter before he was once traded away) because number 4 was retired in honor of Joe Dumars.

Billups quickly earned respect from Pistons fans and colleagues for his tenacious defense and clutch shooting. He helped Detroit win the 2004 NBA Finals over the Los Angeles Lakers, four games to one. He averaged 21 points and 5.2 assists per game during the series to earn the NBA Finals MVP Award.

The following season, Billups was named to the 2005 NBA Second All-Defensive Team, along with teammate Tayshaun Prince, while teammate and co-captain of the Pistons, Ben Wallace, took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Pistons reached the NBA finals again, but lost to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.

In 2006, Billups was co-captain of the team. Although he captained the Pistons to a franchise best 64-18 record, they failed to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in three years. He also led the league in assist-to-turnover ratio.

On July 11, 2007, Billups signed a $46 million, four-year contract with the Pistons (which includes a team option for a fifth year at $14 million). He had been an unrestricted free agent for several days after he opted out of the previous contract, which he had signed in 2002.

During a game three playoff game against the Orlando Magic, Billups pulled a hamstring after going for a ball. He missed game four, but the Pistons defeated the Magic, 90-89, to take a 3-1 series lead when Tayshaun Prince hit the game-winning shot with 8.9 seconds left.

Return to the Denver Nuggets

On November 3, 2008, Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets, along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, for Allen Iverson. Billups chose the number 7 jersey to honor Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, since two of his other favorite numbers, 1 and 4, were already worn by J. R. Smith and Kenyon Martin, respectively. He played his first game of the Nuggets' 2008-09 season on November 7, 2008. He recorded 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of play in a 108-105 Nuggets' home win.

All-star appearances

In 2006, 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. Pistons head coach Flip Saunders coached the Eastern Conference squad and put all four Pistons in the game when the east was falling behind; they were able to get the Eastern All-Star team back in the game.

During the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Billups participated in the Three-point Shootout contest. He was eliminated in the first round of the contest after scoring 12 points.

In the 2007 NBA All-Star Game, Billups was chosen as a reserve, along with teammate Richard Hamilton, for the Eastern Conference, despite an injury that kept Billups out of five games early on in the season. Billups also took part in the Shooting Stars Competition alongside former Piston and Detroit Shock head coach Bill Laimbeer and Shock star Swin Cash. Team Detroit won the competition with Billups hitting the final half-court shot.

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.

Statistics

Legend

GP	Games played	GS	Games started	MPG	Minutes per game
FG%	Field goal percentage	3P%	3-point field goal percentage	FT%	Free throw percentage
RPG	Rebounds per game	APG	Assists per game	SPG	Steals per game
BPG	Blocks per game	PPG	Points per game	Bold	Career high

Regular season

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
1997–98	Boston	51	44	25.4	.390	.339	.817	2.2	4.3	1.5	.0	11.1
1997–98	Toronto	29	26	31.7	.349	.316	.919	2.7	3.3	1.0	.1	11.3
1998–99	Denver	45	41	33.1	.386	.362	.913	2.1	3.8	1.3	.3	13.9
1999–00	Denver	13	5	23.5	.337	.171	.841	2.6	3.0	.8	.2	8.6
2000–01	Minnesota	77	33	23.2	.422	.376	.842	2.1	3.4	.7	.1	9.3
2001–02	Minnesota	82	54	28.7	.423	.394	.885	2.8	5.5	.8	.2	12.5
2002–03	Detroit	74	74	31.4	.421	.392	.878	3.7	3.9	.9	.2	16.2
2003–04	Detroit	78	78	35.4	.394	.388	.878	3.5	5.7	1.1	.1	16.9
2004–05	Detroit	80	80	35.8	.442	.426	.898	3.4	5.8	1.0	.1	16.5
2005–06	Detroit	81	81	36.1	.418	.433	.894	3.1	8.6	.9	.1	18.5
2006–07	Detroit	70	70	36.2	.427	.345	.883	3.4	7.2	1.2	.2	17.0
2007–08	Detroit	78	78	32.3	.448	.401	.918	2.7	6.8	1.3	.2	17.0
Career		758	664	31.8	.416	.385	.886	2.9	5.5	1.0	.1	14.8
All-Star		3	0	16.7	.429	.143	.750	3.0	5.7	.0	.0	9.7

Playoffs

Year	Team	GP	GS	MPG	FG%	3P%	FT%	RPG	APG	SPG	BPG	PPG
2000–01	Minnesota	3	0	8.7	.167	.000	1.000	1.7	.7	.0	.0	1.0
2001–02	Minnesota	3	3	44.7	.451	.400	.700	5.0	5.7	1.0	.3	22.0
2002–03	Detroit	14	14	34.6	.374	.310	.933	3.4	4.7	.6	.1	18.0
2003–04	Detroit	23	23	38.3	.385	.346	.890	3.0	5.9	1.4	.1	16.4
2004–05	Detroit	25	25	39.4	.428	.349	.893	4.3	6.5	1.0	.2	18.7
2005–06	Detroit	18	18	39.2	.406	.340	.905	3.4	6.5	1.2	.1	17.9
2006–07	Detroit	16	16	40.6	.435	.389	.832	3.3	5.7	1.2	.1	18.6
2007–08	Detroit	15	15	32.0	.401	.375	.832	2.9	5.5	.8	.1	16.1
Career		117	114	37.1	.407	.351	.876	3.4	5.8	1.0	.1	17.3

Career highs

Category	Career High	Opponent/Date
Points	37	vs. Orlando 01/03/06
Field Goals Made	12	2 Times
Field Goals Attempted	24	@ Phoenix 01/18/02
Three Point Field Goals Made	7	3 Times
Three Point Field Goals Attempted	3	vs. Phoenix 03/28/03
Free Throws Made	18	@ Washington 11/25/06
Free Throws Attempted	19	@ Washington 11/25/06
Offensive Rebounds	5	vs. Vancouver 01/15/98
Defensive Rebounds	11	vs. Indiana 12/29/06
Total Rebounds	12	vs. Indiana 12/29/06
Assists	19	vs. Sacramento 12/14/05
Steals	7	@ Atlanta 01/23/98
Blocks	3	vs. Denver 02/15/02
Minutes Played	51	@ New York 12/27/06

International career

On March 5, 2006, Billups was selected to be a part of the 2006-2008 USA Men's Senior National Team program developed to restore Team USA back to the top of the basketball world after disappointments in the 2002 FIBA World Championship and the 2004 Summer Olympic Games. After missing out in the 2006 FIBA World Championship due to personal reasons, on August 20, 2007, Billups was selected to be a part of Team USA that competed at the 2007 FIBA Americas Championship, a qualifying tournament for the Beijing Olympics. Coming off the bench, he along with the other new members of the team including All Star Kobe Bryant helped USA go unbeaten at the tournament held in Las Vegas and earn a spot at next Summer Olympics. On June 17, 2008, Billups announced he would not compete for a spot to be on the Olympic squad stating family reasons though he did say "they'll be fine. And when they win the gold, I'll feel like I had a big hand in regaining our dominance because of what we did last summer." During the tournament, Team USA went unbeaten on their way to their first gold medal since the 2000 Olympics, defeating Spain in the final.

Personal life

Billups has a wife, Piper, and three children, Cydney, Ciara and Cenaiya. His good friend, NBA player Kevin Garnett, is the godfather to Billups's second daughter Ciara. His younger brother, Rodney, was a point guard for the University of Denver and was recently drafted in the NBA D-League. He is the first cousin of running back LenDale White of the Tennessee Titans.

Billups enjoys listening to his favorite rapper, 2Pac, and also enjoys Jay-Z. He lists his favorite athlete as Magic Johnson and has said the reason he wore the #4 in college and on his previous NBA stops was because he idolized former Pistons guard (and current Pistons President of Basketball Operations) Joe Dumars. His favorite NFL team is the Denver Broncos.

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

Billups has signed endorsement deals with Vitamin Water, Ford, and still has a relationship with Tahitian Noni. He is also a partner in a new restaurant opening in Miami Beach called Philippe.

On June 16, 2008, Billups appeared at Joe Louis Arena for a Barack Obama rally. Billups warmed up the crowd for Obama, encouraged voter registration, and expressed his hope that Obama would become the next president.

Awards and honors

• Gold Medal with Team USA, Tournament of Americas Olympic Qualifiers
• 2004 NBA Finals MVP
• 2004-05 NBA All-Defense Second Team
• 2006, 2007, 2008 NBA All-Star
• 2005-06 All-NBA Second Team
• 2005-06 NBA All-Defense Second Team
• 2006-07 All-NBA Third Team

External links

• NBA.com profile
• DVD featuring Chauncey