New Orleans Pelicans: Chauncey Billups Could be the Pels’ Steve Nash

New Orleans Pelicans’ Coaching Search: Chauncey Billups

Chauncey Billups’ Resume

Billups played 16 seasons in the NBA and was known as a smart, intense competitor with a high basketball I.Q.

He earned the nickname “Mr. Big Shot” for his late game heroics and he helped lead the 2004 Detroit Pistons to a title, winning the Finals MVP along the way.

He was a five time All-Star, three time All-NBA player and made the All-Defensive team twice.

Billups was the brains behind the Pistons’ run, as he controlled the offense, called the plays and was often like a coach on the floor.

This is why he was voted as the player who was most likely to become a coach and why his name keeps surfacing in these rumors.

Billups was a winner everywhere he played and his coaches all raved about his understanding of the game.

Point guards tend to make the best coaches and Billups was a great point guard with a sharp basketball mind.

Billups has worked as both a studio and game analyst for ESPN and the Clippers, and is well-respected in those positions, showing a unique understanding of how the game works.

Billups does have a red flag in his personal life, a sexual assault accusation from 1997, which may not be a factor in him being hired, but could put some teams off.

Billups has never coached anywhere, so he’d be learning on the job with a young team, which may not be the ideal situation.

But if it worked out, the Pelicans could have their coach for the next decade, an Erik Spoelstra or Doc Rivers type that becomes the face of a consistently competitive franchise.