Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups reportedly to be inducted into Basketball Hall of Fame
Detroit Pistons legend Chauncey Billups will be immortalized forever as a key part of basketball history.
Billups, known as "Mr. Big Shot" for his clutch performances for the Pistons, will be inducted into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame in the 2024 class, according to a Wednesday report from the Athletic's Shams Charania, along with Vince Carter. In February, Billups was announced as one of the 14 finalists for the 2024 class, alongside former Pistons coach Doug Collins.
Vince Carter and Chauncey Billups have been elected into the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame @HoopHall Class of 2024, sources tell @TheAthletic @Stadium. Official announcement on Saturday at the Final Four. pic.twitter.com/zIX6pQgsHx
— Shams Charania (@ShamsCharania) April 3, 2024
The 2024 Hall of Fame class will be officially announced on Saturday at the NCAA men's Final Four tournament in Phoenix.
Billups, currently serving as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, enjoyed a 17-year career in the NBA and is most known for his play with the Pistons and leading the franchise to its last championship in 2004. Billups joined the team in 2002 and in short order helped elevate the Pistons to a perennial title contender, including as the leader of the 2004 championship team.
He was named Finals MVP in the 2004 run in the five-game victory over the Lakers after averaging 21 points and 5.2 assists a game to lead Detroit to the unlikely upset over a star-studded Los Angeles Lakers team led by Shaquille O'Neal and Kobe Bryant. Billups earned his nickname for his seemingly innate ability to deliver in the biggest moments, which included his banked-in 40-footer against the Nets in Game 5 of the 2004 Eastern Conference semifinals.
The Pistons did not miss the playoffs a single time while Billups was on the roster from 2002-2008 and made it to at least the conference finals each season. His time in Detroit came to an end during the 2008-09 season, when he was included in a trade that brought Allen Iverson to Detroit. After he was traded, Billups played three seasons for the Denver Nuggets then played for the New York Knicks and L.A. Clippers briefly before re-signing with the Pistons in 2013 to retire as a member of Detroit.
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Though he has a full plate with coaching duties currently, Billups still made time to return to Detroit last month for the 20th-anniversary reunion of the '04 title team and talked about how special that group was.
“We didn’t (have a textbook superstar), and we actually took pride in that too,” Billups said at the March reunion. “We didn’t have no superstars, I would agree with that. We had All-Stars, but superstars are different, and most teams that win it all usually have one or two of those guys. We were able to do it without that. But we had guys that could dominate games night in and night out still not be considered that.
“We never took offense to that. I know I personally didn’t. We didn’t have superstars, but we had All-Stars and we had a great team.”
He began his career as a top-3 pick for the Boston Celtics, but was quickly traded to the Toronto Raptors in his second season then bounced between the Denver Nuggets and Minnesota Timberwolves before landing in Detroit as a free agent in 2002.
Billups was the conductor of the "Goin' to Work" era Pistons in the early 2000s as the point guard and floor general after he arrived and until he was traded. The Pistons have made the playoffs just three times since the Billups trade, but have been swept each time, meaning the last playoff victory came with 'Mr. Big Shot' on the roster.
This article originally appeared on Detroit Free Press: Detroit Pistons' Chauncey Billups going into Basketball Hall of Fame