Buffs legend Billups joins Basketball Hall of Fame
About 24 hours after knocking down a shot destined to be remembered among the biggest in program history, Colorado guard KJ Simpson was asked about Chauncey Billups.
A day earlier, Simpson had helped the Buffaloes advance in the NCAA Tournament with a baseline jumper in the waning seconds of an epic first-round battle against Florida. Billups, one of the biggest stars ever produced by the Colorado men’s basketball program three decades earlier, eventually earned the nickname Mr. Big Shot.
With his repeated late-game heroics this past season, including the winner against Florida, could Simpson be Mr. Big Shot II? Not so fast, said Simpson.
“Obviously Chauncey Billups was a legend,” Simpson said. “I grew up understanding his background and watching him as a kid. Followed in his footsteps, tried to emulate those role models ahead of me and fill in their shoes. I can’t take the credit for his nickname. That’s all Chauncey. He worked for that. He earned that and that’s all him. Any time you talk about Colorado, that will always be him. I’m thankful to even be even mentioned in the same sentence as him.”
There is indeed only one Mr. Big Shot, and now he officially is a Naismith Basketball Hall of Famer.
Although news of his pending induction was leaked earlier this week, the Denver native and CU legend was named to the 2024 induction class that was announced on Saturday morning. Also joining Billups in the class are Vince Carter, Jerry West (as a contributor; West already is enshrined as a player), Michael Cooper, Seimone Augustus, Herb Simon, Doug Collins, Bo Ryan, Walter Davis, Charles Smith, Dick Barnett, Harley Redin and Michele Timms.
Billups enjoyed arguably the greatest two-year career in CU basketball history, as his career scoring average of 18.5 remains fifth in program history. After starring at Denver’s George Washington High School, Billups scored a then-freshman record 465 points with the Buffs as a rookie in 1995-96 (that total has since been surpassed by Alec Burks and Richard Roby).
Billups enjoyed a season for the ages in 1996-97, averaging 19.1 points and 4.8 assists while leading the Buffs to their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 1969.
Like Simpson nearly 30 years later, Billups turned in a memorable performance in the Big Dance, going 8-for-14 overall, including 3-for-4 on 3-pointers, and 5-for-6 at the free throw line with 24 points, five rebounds and three assists in CU’S first-round win against Indiana. He was a
second team AP All-american for the 1996-97 season and remains the most recent Buffs player to receive AP All-american honors greater than the honorable mention level.
Billups was the No. 3 selection in the 1997 NBA Draft by Boston, and the early up-and-down portion of his pro career included a two-year run with his hometown Denver Nuggets (199899, 1999-2000). Yet Billups’ NBA career ascended quickly once he joined the Detroit Pistons in 2002.
Billups scored a then-career-high 16.2 points per game in his first year at Detroit in 2002-03, and the following year he was named
the MVP of the NBA Finals after helping to lead the Pistons to their first title since 1990.
Billups returned to the Nuggets early in the 200809 season and helped lead Denver to the Western Conference finals that year. He finished his 17-year career with five All-star nominations while averaging 15.2 points and 5.4 assists. Billups was inducted into the Colorado Sports Hall of Fame and the CU Athletics Hall of Fame in 2015.
Now in his third season as the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers, Billups was humble and gracious when asked about his Hall nod this week.
“Obviously as you get there and you start becoming an All-star year after year after year, and you win a championship, you start thinking about that’s the ultimate. I call it basketball heaven, if you will,” Billups said of the Hall of Fame. “As a kid, I never even thought about it. I never really knew about it. To be here now, it’s unbelievable. It really is. And I played the right way with it. I never chased stats. I never done those things. I just played the right way my whole career. Tried to play for my team and as a point guard make everybody better. Everything good happened to me because of that.”