UNCASVILLE, Conn. — Chauncey Billups’s stint with the Celtics lasted only 51 games before general manager and coach Rick Pitino decided he needed a more polished point guard and traded the rookie to Toronto for Kenny Anderson.
Twenty-seven years later, Billups approached the podium at the Mohegan Sun Casino as a Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Famer, the conclusion of an unlikely journey that included three trades in his first three seasons before finally emerging as a franchise cornerstone with the Pistons.
The decision to trade Billups is still curious at best. He started 44 of his 51 games as a rookie in 1997-98, averaging 11.1 points, even making an appearance in the Rookie-Sophomore Game. A few weeks later he was in Toronto and the Celtics never turned into a contender under Pitino, who resigned in 2001.
The difficulty of his early career was never lost on Billups, who led the Pistons to the 2004 NBA championship by pasting Kobe Bryant, Shaquille O’Neal, and the Lakers. Unselfish and tough, he turned into the model point guard, team leader, and defensive presence.
What if Pitino had given Billups more time to develop? But the late 1990s Celtics weren’t in the developmental stages, still trying to return to prominence after a difficult decade following the retirements of Larry Bird and Kevin McHale and departure of Robert Parish.
Billups said he had no regrets. He wasn’t traded because he didn’t play well. But the league was still regimented into positions 25 years ago. Billups was a combo guard, bigger and more offensively skilled than a true point guard. In today’s game he would have been coveted for his versatility. Two decades ago, he was passed around until he was finally appreciated in Detroit.
“There were a lot of trials and tribulations for me early in my career,” he said Saturday. “Some of those things [about being a bust] were true but my story was far from over. But I never believed [the negativity], though. I never believed in what the people said about me. As far as I worked, the passion I had for the game. I lived a clean, good life. I dedicated everything I had to the game. It just didn’t translate fast enough.”
Billups is entering his third year as the coach of the Trail Blazers, and he had conversations with Celtics president of basketball operations Brad Stevens before he opted to hire Ime Udoka three years ago. The Trail Blazers are in the early stages of a total rebuild after trading longtime cornerstone Damian Lillard for Jrue Holiday and then flipping Holiday to the Celtics for Robert Williams, Malcolm Brogdon, and draft picks.
The Blazers have young talent but they’re far away from competing in the Western Conference. They’re expected to take a step forward and Billups said he is likely better equipped than most coaches to deal with such a tedious process and players who are still trying to prove themselves.
“One of the gifts and one of the reasons why I went through what I went through led me to coach,” he said. “I’ve got a lot of different players that are at a lot of different places in their career and I can say I’ve been every single one of those guys at one point, from the rookie that’s struggling to the guy taking the next step to the sixth man to the best player. I’ve been them all. I can meet them halfway in terms of their journey and I know how to challenge them.
“I’m fair with them and I also show them grace.”
Billups was not inducted on the first ballot, second ballot, or even third ballot. He’s been retired for 10 years. His game was not beautiful or picturesque. He didn’t roll up the points or assists. He simply did what needed to be done to win, and he led to a championship.
After 27 years, he’s finally received the ultimate appreciation, the ultimate honor. He doesn’t have to apologize for being here or for being disregarded by so many teams, including the Celtics. This is not considered a banner Hall of Fame class. Many of those inducted this year — Vince Carter, Michael Cooper, Seimone Augustus — are here because of their longevity or work ethic or because they brought something unique to the game that slowly became valued and admired.
Billups personifies that mentality. He worked feverishly and deserves his place.
“I say this all the time, from when I was drafted to today, from me being on this stage and being here this weekend, it was a tough road for me,” he said. “It was not a lot of traffic on that road, to be honest with you. Not a lot of people, third pick in the draft, five teams in the first [six] years. I wasn’t playing poorly but I wasn’t playing good enough. But it is what it is. My journey is what it is and I’ve learned so much about me in that process that made me able to deal with anybody, able to meet anybody halfway. I don’t wish my plight to get to this stage [was easier] because it made me who I am, you know?”
Gary Washburn is a Globe columnist. He can be reached at gary.washburn@globe.com. Follow him @GwashburnGlobe.
