Billups, Carter selected to Hall of Fame

The moment was delayed, but Mr. Big Shot’s case for basketball immortality won’t be denied any longer.

Detroit Pistons great Chauncey Billups will be enshrined into the 2024 class of the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame, according to a report from The Athletic’s Shams Charania. An official announcement for the 2024 class is expected Saturday at the NCAA Final Four in Glendale, Ariz., with Vince Carter, a former Toronto Raptors star, also elected.

Billups, the 2004 finals MVP, helped lead the Pistons to the third championship in franchise history after an upset over the L.A. Lakers. After years of being passed over for the highest honour in basketball, Billups will become the second member of the “Goin’ to Work” era to be selected for the Hall of Fame, joining 2021 inductee Ben Wallace.

Billups, a five-time all-star and three-time All-NBA honouree, spent 17 seasons in the NBA, from 1997 to 2014. He averaged 15.2 points, 2.9 rebounds, 5.4 assists and 1.0 steal in 1,043 career games. He also earned two NBA All-Defence second-team nods, in 2005 and ’06. His 89.4 career free-throw percentage ranks the sixth-best in NBA/ ABA history.

Carter will join Billups as part of the 2024 Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame class. The eight-time all-star made two AllNBA teams, is No. 21 on the all-time scoring list, played a league-record 22 seasons and won a gold medal in the 2000 Sydney Olympics.

Billups and Carter were among 14 finalists for the 2024 Hall of Fame class, which was announced in February.

The 2024 class will be inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in Springfield, Mass., on Aug. 16-17.