Chauncey BillupsCertainly one of the greatest, if not the greatest basketball player, to play in the state, Chauncey Billups was a Colorado legend even before he stepped foot on the George Washington High School campus as a freshman. When he got to GW, well, prep basketball history was in the making.
Billups led his George Washington team to a pair of 6A state championships as a sophomore and junior in 1993 and 1994. Certainly it looked like it might be three in a row, but a shoulder injury as a senior limited his time in the playoffs and GWHS was eliminated early that year. He was awarded the title of Mr. Colorado Basketball three times by The Denver Post and would have been a fourth time, except that the program started his sophomore year.
Billups was George Washington’s Head Boy his senior year and that was just a hint of his leadership qualities.
He earned four letters, was All-State each of his four seasons in high school and was a 1995 McDonald’s All-American. He scored 1,952 points in 82 games (23.8 ppg) as a prep player, which still ranks high in the Colorado annals.
He moved on to the University of Colorado for two years, earning All-American honors as a sophomore and leading the Buffs to an NCAA berth. He was drafted third overall in 1997 by the Boston Celtics and has played in the NBA for past 16 years. A five-time NBA All-Star and a three-time All-NBA selection, Billups has played for the Celtics, the Toronto Raptors, the Denver Nuggets, the Minnesota Timberwolves, the Detroit Pistons, the New York Knicks, the Los Angeles Clippers, and Team USA.
He won the NBA Finals Most Valuable Player in 2004, helping the Pistons beat the Los Angeles Lakers in the Finals, and was given the nickname "Mr. Big Shot" for making late-game shots with Detroit.
