Blazers News: Chauncey Billups Still Wrapping Head Around Hall of Fame Honor

Portland's fourth-year head coach is heading to Springfield as a player this week.

Apr 12, 2024; Portland, Oregon, USA; Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups watches play during the second half against the Houston Rockets at Moda Center. Mandatory Credit: Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images / Troy Wayrynen-Imagn Images

Fourth-year Portland Trail Blazers head coach Chauncey Billups may not be quite a Hall of Famer in his post-playing career yet (his admittedly semi-tanking Portland clubs have gone a cumulative 81-165 across his three prior seasons in the gig), but he's heading to Springfield this week for his achievements as a player.

The five-time All-Star and three-time All-NBA point guard appeared in six consecutive Conference Finals with the Detroit Pistons and Denver Nuggets, and won the 2004 championship with Detroit. He was named Finals MVP in that series, during which the Pistons upset a Los Angeles Lakers club boasting four future Hall of Famers in five games.

Per Sean Keeler of The Denver Post, Billups is still processing his impending enshrinement.

“(When the Hall) actually called, they picked a (heck) of a day. It was April Fool’s. It was on April 1,” Billups laughed. Keeler writes that Billups had been on a walk ahead of an eventual 104-103 Trail Blazers loss against the Orlando Magic. “So when they called, I just kept saying, ‘If y’all are playing this sick joke on me, man, I’m never speaking to any of y’all again. That’s the worst.'”

The Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame generally limits presenters to two prior inductees, but Billups is looking to bring on his former three-time Defensive Player of the Year Pistons teammate Ben Wallace (a member of the 2021 class), former WNBA and USC combo forward Tina Thompson, a nine-time All-Star and four-time champ (a 2018 inductee), and his former Detroit head coach Larry Brown (a member of the 2002 class).

“I may have some more,” Billups sai, per Keeler. “There are supposed to be two, but I’m blowing by that. It’s my moment. I do my thing.”

Keeler notes that Billups will become the second Colorado University alum to get inducted into Springfield.

Across his 1,043 career regular season contests (937 starts), Brown boasts averages of 15.2 points on .415/.387/.894 shooting splits, 5.4 assists, 2.9 rebounds, and 1.0 steals per.

Billups logged seven-and-a-half of his 17 seasons with Detroit, four with the Nuggets, two with the Minnesota Timberwolves, two with the L.A. Clippers, and portions of a season with the Boston Celtics, the Toronto Raptors and the New York Knicks.

The 6-foot-3 former NBA star's tenure with Portland has been fraught with poor rosters, but his team option for 2025-26 may become something of a sacrificial lamb for general manager Joe Cronin.

More Trail Blazers: Deni Avdija 'Definitely Getting Used to' Challenge of Being on Blazers