Woelk story
BOULDER — Former Colorado star Chauncey Billups, who went on to become the third overall pick in the NBA Draft and lead the Detroit Pistons to an NBA title, has been named to this year's list of eligible candidates for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2018.
Billups, who now works as an analyst for ESPN, learned of his inclusion on this year's list while on set.
"Just humbled," Billups said. "Humbled and honored to be nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame. A kid from Denver, Colorado. Not even a lot of NBA players come from the neighborhood I came from, or even the state. A local hero in Denver whose ceiling is possibly in the Hall of Fame is humbling to me. I'm just happy to be on the list, to be honest with you. I played really hard my entire career and left it on the floor"
Billups' path to stardom in the NBA was by no means an easy one.
He left Colorado after his sophomore season in 1997, one in which he led the Buffs to an NCAA Tournament win over Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers before losing to Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels in the second round.
But after becoming the third overall pick by the Boston Celtics, Billups struggled to find a home. He played for Boston, Toronto, Denver and Orlando before landing in Minnesota. In his final year with the Timberwolves, he had a breakthrough campaign in the 2001-02 season, helping Minnesota to 50 wins and averaging 22 points per game in the first round of the playoffs.
That led to a six-year deal with Detroit, where he became the starting point guard.
In his first year with the Pistons, Detroit won 50 games and Billups earned the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" by hitting a series of game-winning shots. Detroit also advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
In 2003-04, the Pistons named Larry Brown their head coach and Detroit won 54 games as Billups averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game.
The Pistons then went on a playoff run that saw them beat Milwaukee in the first round, New Jersey in the conference semifinals (Billups had a half-court 3-pointer to send one of the games into overtime) and finally Indiana in the Eastern semifinals.
That set up an NBA Finals matchup with the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers — and Billups guided the Pistons to a 4-1 win. Billups averaged 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in the series while shooting better than 50 percent from the field. For his efforts, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.
"My journey is unique," Billups said "For a guy coming in the third pick in the draft to fall all the way off and almost be mentioned as a bust in the league, to get off of the mat and have a Hall of Fame-worthy career is unique. It took a lot of perseverance. I just fought through all of it."
The Pistons returned to the NBA Finals in 2005, but lost to Tim Duncan and San Antonio in seven games.
The Pistons' title came in an era when the Lakers and Spurs were dominating the NBA, winning nine of 12 titles in that stretch.
In 2008, Billups returned to Denver and helped the Nuggets win 54 games and become the second seed in the Western Conference. Denver advanced to the conference finals before losing to the Lakers — Billups' seventh straight trip to the conference finals.
Billups was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011 and finished the year there. He then played two more seasons with the Clippers and one more year back in Detroit before retiring.
The Pistons retired his jersey in 2016.
"All I cared about was winning," Billups said. "I wasn't a stat guy. I didn't care what my stats looked like at the end of the game. All I cared about was trying to win the basketball game. As a point guard, the biggest stat for me was winning the game. Can you manage the game? Can you make your players look better than maybe they might be? That was the metrics for me. That was what I was trying to do. To know that people can appreciate a guy that played for those reasons is humbling."
Other first-year candidates on this year's Hall of Fame list include Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Grant Hill and Richard "Rip" Hamilton.
Among the repeat nominations are Chris Webber, Ben Wallace, Muggsy Bogues, Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway and Sidney Moncrief.
BOULDER — Former Colorado star Chauncey Billups, who went on to become the third overall pick in the NBA Draft and lead the Detroit Pistons to an NBA title, has been named to this year's list of eligible candidates for the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame's Class of 2018.
Billups, who now works as an analyst for ESPN, learned of his inclusion on this year's list while on set.
"Just humbled," Billups said. "Humbled and honored to be nominated for the Basketball Hall of Fame. A kid from Denver, Colorado. Not even a lot of NBA players come from the neighborhood I came from, or even the state. A local hero in Denver whose ceiling is possibly in the Hall of Fame is humbling to me. I'm just happy to be on the list, to be honest with you. I played really hard my entire career and left it on the floor"
Billups' path to stardom in the NBA was by no means an easy one.
He left Colorado after his sophomore season in 1997, one in which he led the Buffs to an NCAA Tournament win over Bobby Knight's Indiana Hoosiers before losing to Dean Smith's North Carolina Tar Heels in the second round.
But after becoming the third overall pick by the Boston Celtics, Billups struggled to find a home. He played for Boston, Toronto, Denver and Orlando before landing in Minnesota. In his final year with the Timberwolves, he had a breakthrough campaign in the 2001-02 season, helping Minnesota to 50 wins and averaging 22 points per game in the first round of the playoffs.
That led to a six-year deal with Detroit, where he became the starting point guard.
In his first year with the Pistons, Detroit won 50 games and Billups earned the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" by hitting a series of game-winning shots. Detroit also advanced to the Eastern Conference finals.
In 2003-04, the Pistons named Larry Brown their head coach and Detroit won 54 games as Billups averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds, and 1.1 steals per game.
The Pistons then went on a playoff run that saw them beat Milwaukee in the first round, New Jersey in the conference semifinals (Billups had a half-court 3-pointer to send one of the games into overtime) and finally Indiana in the Eastern semifinals.
That set up an NBA Finals matchup with the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers — and Billups guided the Pistons to a 4-1 win. Billups averaged 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds and 1.2 steals per game in the series while shooting better than 50 percent from the field. For his efforts, he was named the Most Valuable Player of the NBA Finals.
"My journey is unique," Billups said "For a guy coming in the third pick in the draft to fall all the way off and almost be mentioned as a bust in the league, to get off of the mat and have a Hall of Fame-worthy career is unique. It took a lot of perseverance. I just fought through all of it."
The Pistons returned to the NBA Finals in 2005, but lost to Tim Duncan and San Antonio in seven games.
The Pistons' title came in an era when the Lakers and Spurs were dominating the NBA, winning nine of 12 titles in that stretch.
In 2008, Billups returned to Denver and helped the Nuggets win 54 games and become the second seed in the Western Conference. Denver advanced to the conference finals before losing to the Lakers — Billups' seventh straight trip to the conference finals.
Billups was traded to the New York Knicks in 2011 and finished the year there. He then played two more seasons with the Clippers and one more year back in Detroit before retiring.
The Pistons retired his jersey in 2016.
"All I cared about was winning," Billups said. "I wasn't a stat guy. I didn't care what my stats looked like at the end of the game. All I cared about was trying to win the basketball game. As a point guard, the biggest stat for me was winning the game. Can you manage the game? Can you make your players look better than maybe they might be? That was the metrics for me. That was what I was trying to do. To know that people can appreciate a guy that played for those reasons is humbling."
Other first-year candidates on this year's Hall of Fame list include Steve Nash, Jason Kidd, Ray Allen, Grant Hill and Richard "Rip" Hamilton.
Among the repeat nominations are Chris Webber, Ben Wallace, Muggsy Bogues, Maurice Cheeks, Tim Hardaway and Sidney Moncrief.
