"Go back to the front of the bus," Billups told his coach. "We're not coming back to L.A."
Billups was right. The Pistons dominated the next three games and he snared the Finals MVP trophy, completing a seven-year odyssey that veered from lottery pick to draft bust to role player before finally settling at Mr. Big Shot. For one of the league's most respected teammates and leaders, it was certainly a strange way to launch his career — he's made eight stops in all, with the Clippers looking like the last one. Fifteen years ago, Billups won his first professional game by beating Jordan's Bulls; now, he's hoping to beat LeBron's Heat, Kobe's Lakers, and Carmelo's Knicks for a second title. Like always, he'll be filling a role — this time, the knowing veteran and calming influence, the guy who's been there before.
"The best damn coach the Clippers can have is Chauncey," said Butch Carter, who coached a young Billups in Toronto."I always believed that to become a great leader, you have to be a great follower," Billups said. These days, the Clippers follow him.It may be a long time — if ever — before we see another "superstar-free" championship in this era of free-agent alignment. "We thought we were the best five alive," Rasheed Wallace said. "We felt like we could take on any five in any era of the NBA. That's how close-knit, that's how together we were … I'm not comparing one team to another, but I know we kicked a lot of ass for a long time."So who knows what will happen to Chauncey Billups? We only know what we see right now — another contender, another key leadership role, a 15th NBA season for the guy who was nearly forgotten after three. Only three 1997 draft picks are still playing in the NBA: Duncan, Billups, and Stephen Jackson. Two of them are leaders; the other one needs to be led. And that's the thing: A leader isn't born or built. It's always a little bit of both. Chauncey Billups would never tell you that. But he'll show you.
Jonathan Abrams, Grantland
I hope that his teammates have read or will read this article. Everyone that has been around him has likened him to a coach, but he doesn't see it in his future. The fact that his beginnings in the league were a trying experience allows him to relate to talented players that are trying to find who they are as basketball players. He's been the underdog as a player, the underdog as a team going up against what was thought to be a dream team and of course he's been a leader.
The Clippers feel like they can beat any team in the league. The bench feels that they can hang with any other team's starters. Then you have the closeness that the team has off of the court. It's evident that Billups has brought in some of the mentality that his Pistons' team had here.
