duncan228
05-12-2009, 02:58 PM
Nice piece on Billups. It's long, here's the intro and the breakdown of the story.
Outside The Lines: The Disposable Superstar (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090511/billups)
Chauncey Billups has won an NBA title, been Finals MVP and is now driving Denver's Playoff run; not bad for a guy who has changed teams six times.
By Tom Friend
DENVER -- One of Chauncey Billups' ex-teammates -- and there are about a hundred of them -- has his nose pressed against a TV set. The Denver Nuggets have just called time, in the middle of a tight playoff game, and the ex-teammate can't help but notice Chauncey rounding up all the players, all the misfits and flakes, and poking a finger in their chests.
If only these Nuggets understood the history behind this -- because there are pieces of Chauncey Billups strewn all over the league. He might have just rescued George Karl's job and Carmelo Anthony's résumé, but don't be fooled: Billups was once a mystery himself. His eyes are wiser now and his scars are healed, but no elite player in these NBA playoffs has been kicked to the curb as often as he has. None spent their first five seasons on six different teams. None has suited up for 10 different coaches. None has been forced to spend a 12th NBA season revalidating himself.
In a league obsessed with LeBron, Kobe and D-Wade, Chauncey might actually be the one to emulate -- a sturdy playmaker who, mid-career, asked to be taught how to make plays. But now the journey ends where it began, a mile above sea level, with Chauncey teaching his own mercurial team how to pay attention to detail. It's why a zoo of an arena chants "MVP, MVP" in his direction. And it's why his former teammate from Minnesota, a friend he used to call "Unc," wishes he could jump through that TV screen, into that huddle … and tell the Nuggets the whole story. The whole story of "Smooth."
Metro State College in Denver, 1994
His father's car, 1984-1993
Florence Gresham's funeral, 1994, to the NBA draft, 1997
Poplar Street, 1997, to out on the street, 2000
Kevin Garnett's basement, 2000 to 2002
The NBA Finals, 2004
Hiawatha Davis Jr. Rec Center, Denver, July 1, 2004
The Pistons' team charter en route to Charlotte, Nov. 2, 2008
George Karl's basement, Denver, Nov. 3, 2008
The Pepsi Center, Denver, Nov. 7, 2008
The Pepsi Center, April 19, 2009
Outside The Lines: The Disposable Superstar (http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/eticket/story?page=090511/billups)
Chauncey Billups has won an NBA title, been Finals MVP and is now driving Denver's Playoff run; not bad for a guy who has changed teams six times.
By Tom Friend
DENVER -- One of Chauncey Billups' ex-teammates -- and there are about a hundred of them -- has his nose pressed against a TV set. The Denver Nuggets have just called time, in the middle of a tight playoff game, and the ex-teammate can't help but notice Chauncey rounding up all the players, all the misfits and flakes, and poking a finger in their chests.
If only these Nuggets understood the history behind this -- because there are pieces of Chauncey Billups strewn all over the league. He might have just rescued George Karl's job and Carmelo Anthony's résumé, but don't be fooled: Billups was once a mystery himself. His eyes are wiser now and his scars are healed, but no elite player in these NBA playoffs has been kicked to the curb as often as he has. None spent their first five seasons on six different teams. None has suited up for 10 different coaches. None has been forced to spend a 12th NBA season revalidating himself.
In a league obsessed with LeBron, Kobe and D-Wade, Chauncey might actually be the one to emulate -- a sturdy playmaker who, mid-career, asked to be taught how to make plays. But now the journey ends where it began, a mile above sea level, with Chauncey teaching his own mercurial team how to pay attention to detail. It's why a zoo of an arena chants "MVP, MVP" in his direction. And it's why his former teammate from Minnesota, a friend he used to call "Unc," wishes he could jump through that TV screen, into that huddle … and tell the Nuggets the whole story. The whole story of "Smooth."
Metro State College in Denver, 1994
His father's car, 1984-1993
Florence Gresham's funeral, 1994, to the NBA draft, 1997
Poplar Street, 1997, to out on the street, 2000
Kevin Garnett's basement, 2000 to 2002
The NBA Finals, 2004
Hiawatha Davis Jr. Rec Center, Denver, July 1, 2004
The Pistons' team charter en route to Charlotte, Nov. 2, 2008
George Karl's basement, Denver, Nov. 3, 2008
The Pepsi Center, Denver, Nov. 7, 2008
The Pepsi Center, April 19, 2009