After playing college basketball with the Colorado Buffaloes , he was selected third overall in the NBA draft by the Boston Celtics. Big Shot " for making late-game shots with Detroit. Billups worked as a studio analyst after his retiring from playing in The Pistons retired his No. Billups was appointed as head coach of the Trail Blazers in Basketball three times, and Colorado Player of the Year as a sophomore and as a junior.
He started on varsity as a freshman. He averaged That same season, Colorado finished second in the Big 12 conference with an overall record of 22— Billups averaged He did not mesh with new Celtics head coach Rick Pitino. In his first career game, Billups recorded 15 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 16 minutes of playing time as a reserve in a win against the Michael Jordan-led Bulls.
That didn't give me a chance to really slow down and listen to myself, listen to the game and what's going on. I never really had that chance. It was a recipe for disaster there. Fifty-one games later, Billups was traded to the Toronto Raptors on the trade deadline. On January 21, , Billups was dealt to his hometown Denver Nuggets in a three-way deal involving one of Billups's future teams, the Minnesota Timberwolves.
Three months into his first tenure with the Nuggets, Billups visited a local Denver hospital in order to comfort and inspire Patrick Ireland, a victim of the Columbine High School Shooting Massacre. Billups was on the injured list until season's end due to an injured shoulder and never played a game for the Magic. Billups was signed by the Minnesota Timberwolves who had been involved in the trade that sent Billups to Denver as a back-up to then point guard Terrell Brandon , who would mentor the troubled player alongside Sam Mitchell , Wally Szczerbiak , and Kevin Garnett.
In his first career game with the Timberwolves , Billups recorded 15 points, 2 rebounds and 5 assists in a —98 road win over the Houston Rockets. During the —02 season, Brandon suffered a serious knee injury. Billups replaced him and had a breakthrough —02 season. The Timberwolves won 50 games before they were swept by the Dallas Mavericks in the first round of the playoffs, with Billups averaging 22 points per game in the series.
