Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who is the head coach of the Portland Trail Blazers of the National Basketball Association (NBA). After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes, he was selected third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Billups spent the majority of his 17-year basketball career playing for the Detroit Pistons, where he won the NBA Finals MVP in 2004 after helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals. He was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit. A five-time NBA All-Star, a three-time All-NBA selection, and two-time NBA All-Defensive selection, Billups also played for the Toronto Raptors, Denver Nuggets, Minnesota Timberwolves, New York Knicks, and Los Angeles Clippers during his NBA career. He was inducted into the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame in 2024.

Billups worked as a studio analyst after his retiring from playing in 2014. The Pistons retired his No. 1 jersey in 2016. He started coaching as an assistant for the Los Angeles Clippers during the 2020–21 season. Billups was appointed as head coach of the Trail Blazers in 2021.

In October 2025, Billups was arrested by the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling scheme.

Born in Denver, Colorado, Billups graduated from George Washington High School in 1995. At George Washington, 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 started on varsity as a freshman. He was selected to the 1995 McDonald's All-American Team but did not play due to a shoulder injury.

For college, Billups chose the University of Colorado Boulder over Kansas, Georgia Tech, University of California-Berkeley and Oklahoma State. He averaged 18.5 points, 5.1 assists and 5.6 rebounds per game over his two seasons with the Buffaloes. In the 1996–97 season, he was named to the All-Big 12 Conference First Team, the Basketball Times All-American First Team, and Consensus 2nd team All-American. That same season, Colorado finished second in the Big 12 conference with an overall record of 22–10. Billups then led the Buffaloes to their first NCAA tournament appearance in 28 years. As a 9-seed, Billups and the Buffalos upset the 8-seed Indiana Hoosiers 80–62 but then lost to the North Carolina Tar Heels 56–73. Billups averaged 17.5 points, 5.5 rebounds and 3.0 assists per game.

Billups was drafted third overall in the 1997 NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. He did not mesh with new Celtics head coach Rick Pitino. In his first career game, Billups recorded 15 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 16 minutes of playing time as a reserve in a win against the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. In his eighth career game, Billups posted a then career-high 22 points, on 5-for-14 shooting from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line, to go along with 3 assists and 4 steals, in a 103–99 win over the visiting Raptors. Years later, Billups reflected on his stint in Boston, commenting, "That didn't help. That didn't give me a chance to really slow down and listen to myself, listen to the game and what's going on. I never really had that chance. It was a recipe for disaster there." In addition, the Celtics coaching staff did not know whether to play him as a point guard or shooting guard. Fifty-one games later, Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors on the trade deadline.

On February 18, 1998, Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors, along with Roy Rogers, Dee Brown and John Thomas in exchange for All-Star point guard Kenny Anderson, Žan Tabak and Popeye Jones. On February 22, in just his second career game with the Raptors, Billups recorded a then-career high of 27 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field and 13-for-16 from the free throw line, to go along with 2 rebounds and 5 assists in a 113–105 win over the Vancouver Grizzlies. On March 3, Billups recorded 26 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists in a 93–108 loss to the visiting Utah Jazz. On April 14, Billups recorded 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a 96–92 road win over the New Jersey Nets.

On January 21, 1999, Billups was dealt to his hometown Denver Nuggets in a three-way deal involving one of Billups's future teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota received Dean Garrett and Bobby Jackson from Denver, Toronto received future teammate Željko Rebrača and Micheal Williams from Minnesota and the 5th pick in the 1999 NBA draft from Denver, and Billups, along with Tyson Wheeler, were sent to Denver from Toronto. Three months into his first tenure with the Nuggets, Billups visited a local Denver hospital in order to comfort and inspire Patrick Ireland, a victim of the 1999 Columbine High School Shooting Massacre. A year later, on February 1, 2000, Billups was traded to the Orlando Magic along with Ron Mercer and Johnny Taylor in exchange for Chris Gatling, Tariq Abdul-Wahad, a future first-round pick and cash.