Chauncey Billups, whose No. 1 hangs in the rafters of Little Caesars Arena, is a Hall of Famer.
It was announced Saturday that the Pistons legend has been elected to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2024, along with 12 other inductees.
Billups was a five-time All-Star over his 17-year career, eight of those seasons coming with the Pistons. He was the point guard and leader of the Goin' To Work teams that made six straight trips to the Eastern Conference Finals from 2003-08 and won the NBA Finals in 2004. Billups was named Finals MVP that year when he helped lift the Pistons over Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O'Neal and the Lakers for the third title in franchise history. He was dubbed Mr. Big Shot for a reason.
"We don’t win a third NBA Championship without Chauncey’s leadership," said fellow Pistons legend and Hall of Famer Joe Dumars, the GM of those teams. "When the ball was in his hands, you just knew he was going to make the right play. His skillset and accomplishments on the court, his competitiveness and his sportsmanship validate this well-deserved honor.”
Drafted third overall by the Celtics in 1997, Billups bounced to Toronto, Denver and Minnesota over the first five seasons of his career. He landed in Detroit as a free agent in 2002 and began laying his legacy. He would later have two All-Star seasons with the Nuggets after returning to Denver via the Allen Iverson trade, but the bulk of Billups' Hall of Fame accomplishments came in Detroit.
He came back to finish his career with the Pistons in 2013-14 and holds the highest winning percentage (.676) by a single player in franchise history (min. 300 games). He's also fourth in franchise history in assists.
Former Pistons coach Larry Brown, the Hall of Famer who led the team to the 2004 title, said that Billups "impacted the game every single time he stepped on the basketball court and truly refined his skills throughout the course of his career."
“He was an unselfish facilitator, tremendous scorer, willing defender and delivered in clutch moments," Brown said. "It was a joy to coach him, and he taught me as much as I hope I was able to teach him. His basketball story is a great example for all players in the way he overcame adversity early in his NBA career and ascended to an NBA All-Star, NBA Finals MVP and now a Hall of Famer.”
Other members of the 2024 Hall of Fame class, which will be inducted in August, include Vince Carter, Seimone Augustus and Jerry West (as a contributor to the game).