San Antonio – Being the younger brother of Chauncey Billups probably didn’t hurt, but the Detroit Pistons say Rodney Billups has earned a summer- league roster spot.
The younger Billups has accepted an invitation to play for the Pistons’ summer-league team next month in Las Vegas. Rodney Billups averaged 10.2 points and 6.4 assists as a senior point guard last season at the University of Denver. He was in attendance at Game 7 of the NBA Finals at the SBC Center on Thursday night to cheer on Chauncey, Detroit’s starting point guard.
“I’m stoked,” Rodney said. “I can’t wait. I’ve been working out a lot. I finally got a chance.”
The Pistons open summer- league play against Orlando on July 8 and play the Nuggets on July 9.
“A lot of people will say that he got the opportunity because he is Chauncey Billups’ brother,” said John Hammond, the Pistons’ vice president of basketball operations. “I think he deserves the opportunity because he is a good basketball player.
“He had a great career at DU. They made the NIT this year. We’re happy that he is going to be playing with us for summer league.
“We know him as a person. We know him as a player. How wrong can the Detroit Pistons go by adding another Billups to the Pistons family at this point?”
Rodney, 22, doesn’t expect to be selected Tuesday in the NBA draft, but he hopes to play professional basketball overseas next season.
“My main goal is to go overseas for a couple years and then try to come back to the NBA,” Rodney said. “I’ll take any job right now. I’m hungry to play.”
Coach-speak
Pistons coach Larry Brown and San Antonio coach Gregg Popovich, longtime friends, ate dinner together on the eve of Game 7.
“Last night was real special for both of us, so we spent time together and talked very little about basketball, which is awkward because that’s all we ever do,” Popovich said.
“We haven’t talked much about why we are on the planet or what fate might be upon death and what happens to an individual at that point.
“It’s always napkins and salt shakers and all of the stuff that doesn’t matter, drawing things, stealing from each other.”
Footnotes
Popovich’s theory on what happens after you die: “I go with the Joseph Campbell philosophy myself, where some things are accurate and some things are based on myth, and I think you have to make your own personal decision based on what you believe and most of that’s based on the way you grew up and the associations you have after that point. I don’t think you have a chance. I think you’re gone when you die.” …
Brown on telling his players he loved them late in their Game 6 victory Tuesday: “I remember my first year in the (1980 NCAA championship game) to Louisville, I said something like that. I didn’t think anything of it. I was just in awe of what we were doing.”
arc J. Spears can be reached at 303-820-5449 or mspears@denverpost.com.
