Chauncey Billups announced he was retiring last night to Yahoo Sports. After the news broke, Clipper point guard and one-time Billups teammate, Chris Paul offered up a tribute commemorating his “big brother” and predicting a Springfield future for Billups.
We think Billups will be right on the cusp of the Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible in half a decade. Paul, for his part, looks forward to his induction ceremony. Here’s the tribute Paul wrote on Instagram last night:
“Welllll, let me start by saying that I usually don’t get too emotional when it comes to former opponents or even teammates, but this one is a lil different! I was blessed and fortunate to be born with an amazing big brother who everyone knows already. But early in my career when I began to have what they call “NBA family”, I was blessed with another big brother! In a league that’s filled with fierce competition and unfortunately at times jealousy, a veteran guard took me under his wing and told me and showed me what it means to be a professional and to ALWAYS help the next guy coming up behind you. One of the highlights of my career was the night that I found out I would get to play along side of Chaunce! I could go on and on talkin about this guy but I’ll end by saying THANK YOU BIG SHOT!!! And I would love to be there whenever the Hall of Fame Ceremony is! #MrBigShot #1 #ParkHill #Bbbbbbillups #MuchLove”
We agree with Paul’s prediction, and we love the tribute, though there will probably be countless commemorations of Billups like this one; he was a mentor to many.
Billups was the consummate point guard. In Jonathan Abrams sprawling look at Billups’ career for Grantland, his old coach, Larry Brown, spoke about asking Billups and then-teammate Richard Hamilton to sacrifice shots for the good of the team:
“Chauncey looked at me straight in the eye, made sacrifices for the team every single day. You look at the success that team had and that was a direct result of him buying in.”
Towards the end of Billups’ career, he always made sure to tutor those coming up behind him — like CP3 — and it was him teaching those who came after him that’s perhaps the greatest legacy he’s left the game.
What do you think?
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