Chauncey Billups’ No.1 jersey went up into the rafters in Detroit for all-time Wednesday night, as the Pistons honored their championship-winning former point guard.
Members of the 2004 title squad were on hand to honor “Mr. Big Shot”.
A special night for a special player and person. #MrBigShot pic.twitter.com/pj1H15bqJi
— Detroit Pistons (@DetroitPistons) February 11, 2016
2004 Champion @DetroitPistons squad having fun at Chauncey's jersey retirement! #NBAVine https://t.co/AJQEXp44JK
— NBA (@NBA) February 11, 2016
The Pistons went on to lose 103-92 to the visiting Denver Nuggets. They will honor Rip Hamilton next.
Per the Detroit Free Press:
Shortly before the Detroit Pistons retired his jersey and raised it to the rafters Wednesday at the Palace, Chauncey Billups admitted this was never the plan. […] “As I went through my career and focused and did the best that I could, I never shot for that,” he said of his jersey retirement. “That was never a goal of mine. I just wanted to be the best that I could be. I didn’t know that that was my best. So it’s humbling.”
Billups was 26 when the joined the Pistons for the 2002-03 season. He had bounced around with four teams already. But when he arrived in Detroit, everything was just right. […] Billups, now 39, admitted he might have still turned out to be a great player, even if he had not played with the Pistons. But the success he found — a championship and five All-Star appearances — might not have come.
“Yes, I think I could have been the same player,” he said. “Would I have won a championship and had the same success? Maybe not. Everything is timing. Not only in sports, but in the world. … And it was tailor-made and I had been through a lot to get to this point. There were other situations that I could have picked from and I picked this one for that reason.”
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