Chauncey Ray Billups (born September 25, 1976) is an American professional basketball coach and former player who last served as 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. A point guard, Billups played for seven NBA franchises over his 17-year basketball career, most notably the Detroit Pistons, for whom 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 FBI for his alleged involvement in an illegal gambling scheme. He was subsequently suspended indefinitely by the NBA.
High school career 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. In 2013, he was inducted into the National High School Hall of Fame.
College career 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.
College awards and honors Consensus second-team All-American (1997) All-Big 12 First Team (1997) AllBuffs.com All-Time Colorado Buffaloes Men's Basketball Team No. 4 retired by University of Colorado
Professional career
Boston Celtics (1997–1998) 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.
Toronto Raptors (1998–1999) 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.
Denver Nuggets (1999–2000) 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.
Billups was on the injured list until season's end due to an injured shoulder and never played a game for the Magic. Despite this, he was included in the season-ending team photo. Among NBA circles, Billups was considered a draft bust.
Minnesota Timberwolves (2000–2002) Billups was signed on a three-year, $7.4 million contract by the Minnesota Timberwolves (who had been involved in the trade that sent Billups to Denver) as a back-up to then point guard Terrell Brandon, who would mentor the troubled player alongside Sam Mitchell, Wally Szczerbiak and Kevin Garnett. Billups would work with his more experienced teammates on shooting, scouting, decision-making and the other attributes that came with playing point guard in the NBA, such as learning to work more effectively with teammates and deciding which plays would be most beneficial for the team in a specific situation.
In his first career game with the Timberwolves, Billups recorded 15 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in a 106–98 road win over the Houston Rockets. On November 11, 2000, Billups recorded his season-high in terms of points scored with 31 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 9 assists in a 103–92 road win over the Bucks.
During the 2001–02 season, Brandon suffered a serious knee injury. Billups replaced him and had a breakthrough 2001–02 season. The Timberwolves won 50 games before they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, with Billups averaging 22 points per game in the series.
Detroit Pistons (2002–2008)
First year in Detroit (2002–2003)
After his breakthrough season, Billups became a free agent. Billups wanted to return to the Timberwolves, but the team wanted to see how Brandon would respond to his knee injury.
In July 2002, Billups signed a 6-year, $34 million contract with the Detroit Pistons 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.
In 2002–03, Billups helped Detroit finish first overall in the Eastern Conference with a 50–32 regular season record. Billups earned the nickname "Mr. Big-Shot" during the regular season for two events. He first made a game winning three on March 9 as time expired to beat the Golden State Warriors 107–105 and Billups scored 31 points. The second event was just over two weeks later on March 26. The Pistons were tied in overtime with the Atlanta Hawks 99–99 until Billups made a top-of-the-key triple with 0.5 seconds left to win the game. Billups finished with 22 points against the Hawks. In the 2003 playoffs, the top-seed Pistons surprisingly fell behind the upstart 8-seed Orlando Magic in the first-round series 3 games to 1. In game 5, Billups played a contributing role in his team's dominating 98–67 victory by scoring 15 points, tied for second on the Pistons. Having helped the Pistons stave off elimination in game 5, Billups scored 40 points in game 6 to help the Pistons force a seventh game. In the decisive game 7, Billups scored 37 points to help clinch the series 4–3.
Detroit then beat the Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 4–2, to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Detroit was swept by the New Jersey Nets, 4–0. Rick Carlisle was fired as the head coach in the offseason and Larry Brown was hired.
Championship season and Finals MVP (2003–2004) In the 2004 season, Billups averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. The Pistons improved their record to 54–28, but it was only good for the third seed overall in the Eastern Conference playoff standings.
In the pivotal game 3 during the first round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, which was tied 1–1, Billups led all scorers with 21 points and finished the scoring for his team by sinking 4 of 4 free throws in the final 31.2 seconds. These free throws were a key part of the Pistons effort to stave off the Bucks' relentless defense which kept Detroit from scoring a normal field goal during the last 5:34. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the defending Eastern Conference Champions the New Jersey Nets, Billups banked in a half-court three as time expired in game 5 to send the game into overtime. The Pistons would lose in triple overtime. Finally, he helped Detroit overcome a 3–2 series deficit to win the series, 4–3.
In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, the Pistons won the gritty, defensive series, 4–2, by an average score of 75.2 PPG to the Pacers' 72.7 PPG.
Billups helped Detroit win the 2004 NBA Finals over the heavily favored Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1. He averaged per game 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, as well as shooting 50.1 percent field goals, 47.1 percent three-pointers and 92.9 percent free throws to earn the NBA Finals MVP Award. Billups said of his MVP award, "Everybody deserves this. Not just me. I wish I could turn it into thirteen pieces and give a little bit to everybody."
Back-to-back All-Defensive honors (2004–2006) The following season, Billups was named to the 2005 NBA Second All-Defensive Team, along with teammate Tayshaun Prince, while teammate and co-captain of the Pistons Ben Wallace took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Pistons reached the 2005 NBA Finals but lost in their bid to repeat as champions to the San Antonio Spurs in seven games.
In 2006, Billups was co-captain of the team. Billups was selected to play in the 2006 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve for the Eastern Conference, along with teammates Rip Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Ben Wallace. Pistons head coach Flip Saunders coached the Eastern Conference squad and put all four Pistons in the game when the east was falling behind; they were able to get the Eastern All-Star team back in the game. During the 2006 NBA All-Star Weekend, Billups participated in the Three-point Shootout contest. He was eliminated in the first round of the contest after scoring 12 points. Billups called this moment when all four Pistons entered the game at the same time, one of the highlight moments of his career. Although he captained the Pistons to a franchise best 64–18 record, they failed to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in three years.