On April 3, it was reported to the public that Chauncey Billups (along with Vince Carter) will be headlining the 2024 class of Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame inductees. The current Portland Trail Blazers head coach, however, learned of this good news on the 1st of April. Naturally, this gave Billups some pause, since he might on the receiving end of an April Fools' Day prank.

Thus, Billups reserved his unbridled celebration for when he had ironclad confirmation that he, indeed, did make the Hall of Fame. And when that came, the Blazers head coach felt how big of a payoff it was for the career he had.

“I know you ain't playing. This is a game with me. But once I knew that it was official and it was real, it felt amazing. I guess it was a feeling of just validation even though I felt good about my career,” Billups said, via ClutchPoints Twitter (X).

No one plays 17 seasons in the NBA without having borderline-sociopathic self-confidence. Thus, even if the Hall of Fame induction was, indeed, a prank like he thought it was at first, the Blazers head coach can still rest easy knowing what an illustrious career he had.

“Had I not even gotten into the Hall and what I did, it wasn't going to be undone anyway. But, [getting into the Hall of Fame is] basketball heaven,” Billups added.

Chauncey Billups, rising above early-career adversity

Chauncey Billups, as the player, is known these days for leading the Detroit Pistons, a team that was widely regarded for having no superstar-level player, to an upset win over the Los Angeles Lakers during the 2004 NBA Finals. But Billups, before he got to the point of earning the moniker of “Mr. Big Shot”, was a journeyman early in his career after plenty of teams gave up on him.

The Boston Celtics, under the notorious head coaching reign of Rick Pitino, traded Billups away 51 games into his rookie season. The current Blazers head coach didn't last very long with his second team either; the Toronto Raptors traded him less than 11 months later, and then the team that got him, the Denver Nuggets, dealt him to the Orlando Magic, a team he played zero minutes for before being let go in free agency.

In 2000, the Minnesota Timberwolves signed Chauncey Billups, and for a while, it looked as though he would blossom into the point guard the team sorely needed alongside superstar Kevin Garnett. But in a confusing turn of events, the Timberwolves favored Terrell Brandon over him, proving to be his motivation in signing with the Pistons in 2002.

From that point, Billups emerged as a star, even though he wasn't necessarily among the players fans and analysts would consider the best in the association. He imbibed himself in the Pistons' hard-nosed DNA, helming the team's balanced effort alongside fellow Hall of Famer Ben Wallace, Richard Hamilton, Tayshaun Prince, and Rasheed Wallace that led to a string of contending years in the early-to-mid 2000s.

It's rare that a player sheds the “bust” label, but Billups did, and in grand fashion.

The Pistons great gets the call from the Hall

Chauncey Billups has been eligible for the Hall of Fame since 2018; 2024 was the first year he was named a finalist, and as fortune would have it, he would get in shortly after.

Billups may not have the career totals of a typical Hall of Famer, but his extended stretch of floor general excellence from 2002 to 2011 makes him a well-deserving inductee. Blazers fans will now be hoping that he becomes deserving of a Hall of Fame nod as a coach as well, although he's still way too early in his coaching career for anyone to make any projections of how much he can achieve in this chapter of his life.