Chauncey Ray Billups is an American professional basketball point guard for the Denver Nuggets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He was born on September 25, 1976, in Denver, Colorado. He has also played for Team USA. Billups won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004, helping the Detroit Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit. A five-time NBA All-Star and three-time All-NBA selection, he was chosen third overall in the 1997 NBA Draft by the Boston Celtics, and has also played for the Toronto Raptors and the Minnesota Timberwolves. Billups played college basketball at the University of Colorado, where he was honored in 2004 as the fifth player to have his number 4 jersey retired.
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.
Billups attended but did not graduate from the University of Colorado, having been drafted after his sophomore year. At Colorado, Billups 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. That same year Billups led the Buffaloes to their first NCAA tournament victory in over thirty years, 80-62 over Indiana.
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.
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 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.
On November 3, 2008, Billups was traded to the Denver Nuggets, along with Antonio McDyess and Cheikh Samb, for Allen Iverson. Along with Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets accomplished a great deal of franchise milestones. Their 54-28 record matched the most wins the franchise has gotten since their induction in the NBA, their 27-14 start was also a record for wins in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in the franchise's history the team has gotten back-to-back 50-win seasons. They led the Northwest division for much of the season, eventually winning the division and placing for #2 in the Western Conference, matching the highest the team has ever been seeded for the playoffs. In the first round, they defeated the New Orleans Hornets in 5 games, which included a record-equaling 58-point margin victory. Billups also set a Nuggets franchise record with the most 3 pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 3-pointers in total is also a Nuggets record for 3s made in a playoff series. Billups averaged 22.6 ppg, 7.4 apg, and 3.8 3PM in that series. In his first year with the Nuggets, Billups led them back to the NBA Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. This was Billups' 7th straight conference finals.
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. Billups was the only Nugget to be selected to the 2009 NBA All-Star Game.
Billups was chosen as the replacement for injured New Orleans Hornets point guard Chris Paul at the 2010 NBA All-Star Game.
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