After 17 seasons in the NBA, Chauncey Billups is retiring at the age of 37. Billups played for the Detroit Pistons last season, but the team announced in June that they are declining the final year of his contract worth $2.5 million. The former Pistons star missed 185 games of the last three seasons in his career and has finally decided it was time to ride the sunset he told Yahoo Sports on Tuesday:
"It's just time. I know when it's time. My mind and my desire is still strong. I just can't ignore the fact that I haven't been healthy for three years. I can try again and get to a point where I think I can go, but I just can't sustain. Me not being able to play the way that I can play, that's when you kind of know it's that time."
According to ESPN, a big portion of Billup's career in the NBA was spent with the Pistons, leading the team from 2002 to 2008. He was also named the Finals MVP in 2004 when Detroit upset the Los Angeles Lakers in a 4-1 victory en route to their NBA title.
Now that Billups has retired, the debate looms on whether or not he has the credentials to become inducted in the Naismith Memorial Basketball Hall of Fame when he becomes eligible six years from now. Spencer Lug of Dime Mag thinks that he has:
There's some debate about his Mr. Big Shot moniker - particularly among the young on Twitter, who weren't around during his prime - but Chauncey Billups really was one of the best at his position in the NBA, and his 2004 NBA Finals MVP is pretty conclusive proof.
Chauncey Billups will surely be missed on the court, but Lug believes that this won't be the last time where we will see him. He revealed to Spears that he is leaning on doing television or radio work now that he's retired before he takes a shot at an assistant coach job which multiple teams are reportedly offering him.
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