Chauncey Billups Retires With Impressive NBA Resume

By David Miller @DavidMillerRant on September 9, 2014

When Chauncey Billups was drafted No. 3 by the Boston Celtics in the 1997 NBA Draft, no one was thinking about this day. After a 17-year career, Billups has decided the time to retire has come. It comes after the better part of three seasons where Billups was not able to stay healthy and play the way he wanted to. For him, that meant it was time to hang it up.

Many fans have watched Billups through the years with a high level of respect for the way he played the game. He was never going to threaten the scoring record or anything like that, but he did his job well when he was on the floor. He retires with five All-Star game appearances and a career average of 15.2 points per game. During his All-Star seasons, the average was up closer to 18 and 19 points per game.

What most fans in Detroit will remember about Billups is his play during the 2004 NBA Finals with the Detroit Pistons. Billups came away with the MVP award for the series as the Pistons won the NBA championship that season. It seemed to be a springboard for his career as his All-Star seasons followed directly thereafter.

Billups might be right that the game of basketball has been good to him, but what we all can be thankful for is the way Billups treated the game. There could never be too many players like him in the league and yet there somehow seems to never be enough. It was a fun and successful ride. Here’s to him and a very impressive career in the sport he loves to play.

David Miller is a Featured Blogger for www.RantSports.com. Follow him on Twitter @davidmillerrant, “Like” him on Facebook or add him to your network on Google.