Boston Celtics (1997–1998) Billups was drafted third overall in the
1997 NBA draft by the
Boston Celtics. 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. In his eighth career game, Billups posted a then career-high 22 points, on 5-for-14 shooting from the field and 9-for-10 from the free throw line, to go along with 3 assists and 4 steals, in a 103–99 win over the visiting
Raptors. Years later, Billups reflected on his stint in Boston, commenting, "That didn't help. 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." In addition, the Celtics coaching staff did not know whether to play him as a
point guard or
shooting guard. Fifty-one games later, Billups was traded to the
Toronto Raptors on the trade deadline.
Toronto Raptors (1998–1999) On February 18, 1998, Billups was traded to the
Toronto Raptors, along with
Roy Rogers,
Dee Brown and
John Thomas in exchange for All-Star point guard
Kenny Anderson,
Žan Tabak and
Popeye Jones. On February 22, in just his second career game with the Raptors, Billups recorded a then-career high of 27 points on 5-for-13 shooting from the field and 13-for-16 from the free throw line, to go along with 2 rebounds and 5 assists in a 113–105 win over the
Vancouver Grizzlies. On March 3, Billups recorded 26 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 6 assists in a 93–108 loss to the visiting
Utah Jazz. On April 14, Billups recorded 19 points, 6 rebounds and 4 assists in a 96–92 road win over the New Jersey Nets.
Denver Nuggets (1999–2000) On January 21, 1999, Billups was dealt to his hometown
Denver Nuggets in a three-way deal involving one of Billups's future teams, the
Minnesota Timberwolves. Minnesota received
Dean Garrett and
Bobby Jackson from Denver, Toronto received future teammate
Željko Rebrača and
Micheal Williams from Minnesota and the 5th pick in the
1999 NBA draft from Denver, and Billups, along with
Tyson Wheeler, were sent to Denver from Toronto. 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 1999
Columbine High School Shooting Massacre. A year later, on February 1, 2000, Billups was traded to the
Orlando Magic along with
Ron Mercer and
Johnny Taylor in exchange for
Chris Gatling,
Tariq Abdul-Wahad, a future first-round pick and cash. Billups was on the injured list until season's end due to an injured shoulder and never played a game for the Magic. Among NBA circles, Billups was considered a draft bust. Billups would work with his more experienced teammates on shooting, scouting, decision-making and the other attributes that came with playing point guard in the NBA, such as learning to work more effectively with teammates and deciding which plays would be most beneficial for the team in a specific situation. On November 11, 2000, Billups recorded his season-high in terms of points scored with 31 points to go along with 5 rebounds and 9 assists in a 103–92 road win over the
Bucks. During the 2001–02 season, Brandon suffered a serious knee injury. Billups replaced him and had a breakthrough 2001–02 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. When he signed with the Pistons, he was forced to take the number 1 because number 4 was retired in honor of
Joe Dumars. Billups quickly earned respect from Pistons fans and colleagues for his tenacious defense and clutch shooting. In 2002–03, Billups helped Detroit finish first overall in the Eastern Conference with a 50–32 regular season record. Billups earned the nickname "Mr. Big-Shot" during the regular season for two events. He first made a game winning three on March 9 as time expired to beat the Golden State Warriors 107–105 and Billups scored 31 points. The second event was just over two weeks later on March 26. The Pistons were tied in overtime with the Atlanta Hawks 99–99 until Billups made a top-of-the-key triple with 0.5 seconds left to win the game. Billups finished with 22 points against the Hawks. In the 2003 playoffs, the top-seed Pistons surprisingly fell behind the upstart 8-seed Orlando Magic in the first-round series 3 games to 1. In game 5, Billups played a contributing role in his team's dominating 98–67 victory by scoring 15 points, tied for second on the Pistons. Having helped the Pistons stave off elimination in game 5, Billups scored 40 points in game 6 to help the Pistons force a seventh game. In the decisive game 7, Billups scored 37 points to help clinch the series 4–3. Detroit then beat the
Philadelphia 76ers in the Eastern Conference Semifinals, 4–2, to advance to the Eastern Conference Finals. However, Detroit was swept by the
New Jersey Nets, 4–0.
Rick Carlisle was fired as the head coach in the offseason and
Larry Brown was hired.
Championship season and Finals MVP (2003–2004) In the 2004 season, Billups averaged 16.9 points, 5.7 assists, 3.5 rebounds and 1.1 steals per game. The Pistons improved their record to 54–28, but it was only good for the third seed overall in the Eastern Conference playoff standings. In the pivotal game 3 during the first round series against the Milwaukee Bucks, which was tied 1–1, Billups led all scorers with 21 points and finished the scoring for his team by sinking 4 of 4 free throws in the final 31.2 seconds. These free throws were a key part of the Pistons effort to stave off the Bucks' relentless defense which kept Detroit from scoring a normal field goal during the last 5:34. In the Eastern Conference Semifinals versus the defending Eastern Conference Champions the New Jersey Nets, Billups banked in a half-court three as time expired in game 5 to send the game into overtime. The Pistons would lose in triple overtime. Finally, he helped Detroit overcome a 3–2 series deficit to win the series, 4–3. In the Eastern Conference Finals against the Indiana Pacers, the Pistons won the gritty, defensive series, 4–2, by an average score of 75.2 PPG to the Pacers' 72.7 PPG. Billups helped Detroit win the
2004 NBA Finals over the heavily favored
Los Angeles Lakers, 4–1. He averaged per game 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, as well as shooting 50.1 percent field goals, 47.1 percent three-pointers and 92.9 percent free throws to earn the
NBA Finals MVP Award. Billups said of his MVP award, "Everybody deserves this. Not just me. I wish I could turn it into thirteen pieces and give a little bit to everybody."
Back-to-back All-Defensive honors (2004–2006) The following season, Billups was named to the 2005 NBA Second All-Defensive Team, along with teammate
Tayshaun Prince, while teammate and co-captain of the Pistons
Ben Wallace took home the Defensive Player of the Year Award. The Pistons reached the
2005 NBA Finals but lost in their bid to repeat as champions to the
San Antonio Spurs in seven games. In 2006, Billups was co-captain of the team. Billups was selected to play in the
2006 NBA All-Star Game as a reserve for the
Eastern Conference, along with teammates
Rip Hamilton,
Rasheed Wallace and
Ben Wallace. Pistons head coach
Flip Saunders coached the Eastern Conference squad and put all four Pistons in the game when the east was falling behind; they were able to get the Eastern All-Star team back in the game. During the 2006
NBA All-Star Weekend, Billups participated in the
Three-point Shootout contest. He was eliminated in the first round of the contest after scoring 12 points. Billups called this moment when all four Pistons entered the game at the same time, one of the highlight moments of his career. Although he captained the Pistons to a franchise best 64–18 record, they failed to make it to the NBA Finals for the first time in three years.
Final seasons in Detroit (2006–2008) In the
2007 NBA All-Star Game, Billups was chosen as a reserve, along with teammate
Rip Hamilton, for the Eastern Conference, despite an injury that kept Billups out of five games early on in the season. Billups also took part in the
Shooting Stars Competition alongside former Piston and
Detroit Shock head coach
Bill Laimbeer and Shock star
Swin Cash. Team Detroit won the competition with Billups hitting the final half-court shot. On July 11, 2007, Billups signed a $46 million, four-year contract with the Pistons (which includes a team option for a fifth year at $14 million). He had been an
unrestricted free agent for several days after he opted out of the previous contract, which he had signed in 2002. Billups was selected to play as a reserve in the
2008 NBA All-Star Game, along with teammates Richard Hamilton and Rasheed Wallace, an injury replacement. In the first round of the 2008 NBA playoffs, during game 3 against the Orlando Magic, Billups injured his right hamstring when Orlando Magic guard
Jameer Nelson tangled with Billup's left leg on a drive to the bucket. Billups would sit for the 3 remaining games of the series. Billups and the Pistons again made it to the Eastern Conference Finals against the Celtics, but lost the series, 4–2, to the eventual champions.
Return to Denver (2008–2011) On November 3, 2008, Billups was traded back to his hometown team the
Denver Nuggets along with
Antonio McDyess and
Cheikh Samb for
Allen Iverson. Pistons GM
Joe Dumars said that it was "the hardest and toughest" move he had made as a general manager, describing Billups as "... a guy that I have looked at as a little brother." Billups chose the #7 jersey to honor
Denver Broncos quarterback John Elway, since two of his other favorite numbers, 1 and 4, were already worn by
J. R. Smith and
Kenyon Martin, respectively. He played his first game of the Nuggets'
2008–09 season on November 7, 2008. He recorded 15 points, four rebounds and three assists in 30 minutes of play in a 108–105 Nuggets' home win. Billups was the only Nugget to be selected to the
2009 NBA All-Star Game. He finished the season averaging 17.7 points and 6.4 assists per game. With Billups and
Carmelo Anthony, the Nuggets accomplished a number of franchise milestones. Their 54–28 record matched a franchise record, and their 27–14 start was also a franchise record for wins in the first half of a season. This also marked the first time in the franchise's history the team had gotten 50 wins in back-to-back seasons. They led the Northwest division for much of the season, eventually winning the division and gaining the number two seed in the Western Conference, matching the highest the team had ever been seeded for the playoffs. In the first round, they defeated the
New Orleans Hornets in 5 games, which included a record-equaling 58-point margin of victory. Billups also set a Nuggets franchise record with the most three-pointers in a playoff game with 8, and his 19 three-pointers in total is a Nuggets record for threes made in a playoff series. In his first year with the Nuggets, Billups led them back to the
NBA Conference Finals for the first time since 1985. They would play the Lakers for the second straight year (the Lakers had swept them in the first round the year before). The Nuggets would ultimately lose the series 4–2. This was Billups's 7th straight conference finals. He joined
Magic Johnson,
Michael Cooper,
Kareem Abdul-Jabbar and
Kurt Rambis as the only players to accomplish this feat since the
Boston Celtics of the 1950s and 1960s led by
Bill Russell. Billups finished the season sixth in voting for the 2009
NBA Most Valuable Player Award. He was also selected to his second
All-NBA Third Team. For the
2009–10 season, Billups reverted to wearing #1, the same number he wore with the Pistons. Teammate J. R. Smith, who had previously worn #1 since being acquired by the Nuggets in 2006, changed to the #5 jersey. On November 27, 2009, in the Nuggets' 128–125 win over the
New York Knicks, Billups scored 32 points while teammate Carmelo Anthony scored 50. This made them only the third duo in NBA history to score at least 30 and 50 points, respectively. On February 5, 2010, Billups set a career high in points with a 39-point performance in a road win over the
Los Angeles Lakers with 27 of them coming from 9 three-pointers. Billups was chosen as the replacement by
David Stern for injured
New Orleans Hornets point guard
Chris Paul at the
2010 NBA All-Star Game. During the 2010–11 season, he averaged 16.5 points, 5.3 assists and 2.5 rebounds in 32.3 minutes per game. His .441 three-point field goal percentage was a career high.
New York Knicks (2011) Despite publicly professing his desire to finish his career in hometown Denver and retire as a member of the Nuggets, Billups was traded to the
New York Knicks on February 22, 2011 as part of the
Carmelo Anthony deal. Billups was "collateral damage"—as more than one sportswriter put it—of Carmelo Anthony's desire to play in New York and the Nuggets' desire to trade Anthony before he became a free agent. "Oh it was hard, hardest thing I've ever had to do", Billups said. "I had to tell my girls that daddy was traded, that he was leaving to play across the country. I told them it wasn't my choice, that nothing could be done about it. I had to go. It wasn't a happy scene." The Knicks finished 42–40 and clinched the sixth seed in the Eastern Conference and made the playoffs for the first time since 2004. Billups suffered a knee injury while playing against the Celtics in game 1 of the 2011 NBA Playoffs. The injury would keep Billups sidelined for the remainder of the playoffs. Shortly after the Knicks were eliminated from the playoffs by the
Boston Celtics, Billups mentioned he would love to return to the Knicks next season. "I would love the opportunity to really try it up with these guys", Billups said. "Not like play 30 games after a trade, like really have a season. Have an opportunity to really get a fair shake with these guys. I would love to." In December 2011, the Knicks used their
amnesty clause on Billups and put him on waivers, ending his tenure with the Knicks.
Los Angeles Clippers (2011–2013) After his tenure with the Knicks came to an end, Billups became an unrestricted free agent. Many believed that a contender like the
Miami Heat or the
Los Angeles Lakers would end up acquiring Billups. However, on December 12, 2011, the
Los Angeles Clippers claimed Billups off waivers. Billups indicated that he did not want to be picked up by a team that was not contending for a championship and said he would retire if he was, pushing the NBA to warn him and his agent that he would be "in breach of his contract" if he did not show up. However, the Clippers ended up trading for the Hornets' superstar point guard
Chris Paul two days later. After the Chris Paul trade, Billups said that he was happy to be with the Clippers, saying that "I think these guys are ready to take the next leap and hopefully I can help with that." Billups, a point guard, was moved into the
shooting guard position, which he was still getting used to when he was injured. On February 7, 2012, an MRI revealed a tear in Billups's Achilles tendon, ending his season after only 20 game appearances. Billups helped the Clippers beat Miami, Oklahoma City, Orlando and the Los Angeles Lakers en route to a 19–9 start. On July 13, 2012, Billups re-signed with the Clippers on a one-year deal. He made his season debut on November 28, 2012, against the
Minnesota Timberwolves. He was limited to only 22 games during the season because of various injuries, including a sore back and tendinitis in his left foot. More knee problems caused him to miss most of the 2013–14 season, as he appeared in his fewest games since the
1999–2000 season and averaged career lows in points, minutes, steals, field goal percentage and three-point percentage during the year. The Pistons finished the season at 29–53 and missed the postseason. On June 30, 2014, the Pistons announced they would not pick up their
team option on Billups's contract for the 2014–15 season. On September 9, 2014, Billups announced his retirement from the NBA after 17 years. Billups cited his health as the main reason for his retirement, as he never appeared in more than 22 games in his last three seasons in the league. On February 10, 2016, the Pistons retired Billups's No. 1 jersey. ==BIG3==