Editors’ note: This article was originally published February 15, 2009.)
In Denver, it seems everyone has a story that begins: “I remember Chauncey when . . .”
Chauncey Billups is ours. He evolved in front of our eyes, on our neighborhoods’ courts, in our schools’ gyms, at our state’s university.
He left for a few years, but he’s back. And today he’ll represent Denver in the NBA All-Star Game, a first for Billups as a representative of his hometown Nuggets.
Arguments can be held about the best player ever to come out of Colorado, but few dispute who has had the biggest impact. That would be Billups, a player who long ago figured out how to be a winner.
Following is an oral history of Billups’ rise to stardom, from middle school to George Washington High School and on to CU, as told by the people who watched him up close.
THE EARLY YEARS
Word spreads of “Smooth” developing his game
Horace Kearney, former Manual and University of Denver star and prominent local youth coach: “He was on my fifth-grade team, and he wasn’t very good. We were over at the Skyland Recreation Center (now Hiawatha Davis). So his father came to me and asked if I would work with his kid. I told Chauncey, “I’m going to show you what this game is all about. Don’t ask me questions right now, I’ll explain it as we go along.” I’d go in the gym every day and give him the right shooting techniques, dribbling, passing. And he started progressing.
“In the seventh grade, that’s when I knew he was going to be good enough to play in college. As soon as school was over, he was in that gym. We would go to the back of the Skyland center in the park and talk about his development.
“I asked him, ‘What does every team need?’ He said, ‘Oh, a scorer.’ I said, ‘Nope. Every team needs a point guard.’ And he thought about it. I said, ‘Whatever we work on, I want you to be a very good passer. Make everybody happy on the team. Distribute the ball. And at the end of the game, that’s when you take over.’ He listened.”
John Hodges, recreation coordinator for the city of Denver: “I grew up on 29th and Poplar, and we grew up on the same block. I kept hearing about this kid named ‘Smooth.’ And to finally be in a gym where he was playing, you could see why he got his nickname. Some kids grow into their athletic dominance, but right off the bat, you could see he was levels above the other kids, from his physical stature, to the way he saw the court. That was probably right around seventh grade.”
FRESHMAN, GW (1991-92)
Ninth-grader makes mark on the varsity scene
Steve Finesilver, George Washington teacher/football coach: “Chauncey decided that he wanted to lift weights, and within a relatively short time, he’s in a weightlifting group with our football kids, all kids who were lifting the heaviest weights, doing the toughest routines. Within 2-3 weeks he was able to compete. He clearly felt, strength-wise, like he was up there with the kids who were playing football, who were a year or two older, and some who were going on to play big-time college football.
“He had incredible drive. Chauncey always wanted to push himself to reach his maximum potential.”
Gary Osse, then Chatfield’s varsity basketball coach: “We had read a lot about him in the paper, and we saw him the night before the ’92 (state) quarterfinals and they played Doherty, and we were playing the quarterfinals game after them. Just as we got up to go to our locker room, he drove the baseline and dunked over a player. When we went into the locker room, that’s what everybody was talking about.
“He was very athletic, and for a freshman, we were very surprised how poised he was. We knew the key to beating GW in the state semifinals was stopping Chauncey. Our strategy was — whoever was on Chauncey, don’t worry about sagging and helping out on anyone else. Just stay in front of him. He had seven turnovers, and that was unusual for him. He had 14 points but didn’t score in the fourth quarter. And in The Denver Post, the headline was, CHARGERS ELIMINATE BILLUPS, GW.”
SOPHOMORE, GW (1992-93)
Dropping 40 and winning his first state crown
Jeff Wennberg, former GW teammate, current Columbine coach: “He definitely became a celebrity. We would play games, even against teams that weren’t very good, and it would be a packed house. Every game. And their fans would be cheering for us because there were so many spectacular, highlight plays.”
Maya Starks, Altitude TV reporter, Pomona class of ’95: “He was a star in Denver — second to (John) Elway. You wake up in the morning, and you’re checking box scores. Where’s GW? You wanted to see if Chauncey dropped 40 or 50 or did something crazy.
“I remember being at a game in Manual that Chauncey wasn’t even playing in, but he showed up — and everyone just went nuts. It was crazy. The place erupted. You might have thought Michael Jackson (arrived). He walked in — gold chain, sweatsuit and total box haircut. Total box. His sophomore year. And he was too cool for school — didn’t crack a smile — just strolled on. He was the man.”
George Washington defeats Rangeview to win the Class 5A championship
JUNIOR, GW (1993-94)
Billups shows the way to back-to-back titles
Chad Iske, Regis class of ’94, now Nuggets assistant coach: “We had been eliminated from the playoffs, and back then it was at McNichols and I took a bunch of buddies down there and said, ‘We’ve got to go watch this game. I’m telling you, this guy’s the real deal.’
“There was this one play I’ll always remember. He was inbounding on the baseline underneath the basket. The guy guarding him turned around and Chauncey did the bump-off-the-butt pass. Here he was, 6-1, 6-2, hits the ball off his butt, grabs it, goes straight up off two feet and dunks it harder than anyone you’ve ever seen. And this was like a 15-, 16-year old point guard, drop-step dunking.”
Wennberg, former GW teammate: “In the ’94 championship, we played Horizon, and they had a real good team, but we wore them down. The ’94 team is definitely one of the better teams of all time, and that two-year run had to be one of the best two-year runs of any high school team in the state. I still get e-mails from people asking for game films of those teams. People remember those teams.”
George Washington beats Horizon for second straight state crown
SENIOR, GW (1994-95)
Recruiting heats up, Chauncey chooses CU
Ricardo Patton, former CU assistant coach who helped recruit Billups to Boulder: “I first saw him play in the summer after his junior year. Colorado hadn’t had a great deal of success prior to Chauncey; they hadn’t been to the (NCAA) tournament in nearly 30 years. But that also speaks to Chauncey’s level of confidence, which you rarely find in a lot of players. Most of the players want something that’s already ready for them. Very few players are willing to not just go be a part of something, but go change something.”
Bob Ottewill, former CHSAA commissioner “Him going to CU was a big deal. A lot of black kids weren’t going to CU. If you talk to black leaders around Denver, there just wasn’t a good feeling.”
George Washington lost to Horizon in the state tournament without Billups, out with a separated shoulder
COLORADO (1995-97)
Local product puts CU on national hoops map
Patton, who became head coach during Billups’ freshman season, when CU went 9-18: “The first year at Colorado, I took over as coach with 12 games remaining. We instilled some discipline in the program.
“People on a national scale took notice his sophomore year when we went to Texas Tech and won. They had a big home-win streak going. We called timeout with about 12 seconds left. I’m drawing up this play — I’m going to run Chauncey off a ball screen, and he says, ‘Hey, Coach, I don’t want a ball screen.’ So we ran 1-4 drop, and he backed the defender down to the free-throw line, jumped up over him and made the game-winning shot.”
Matt Finnigan, local attorney, former CU sports information director: “I remember after Texas Tech, it wasn’t, ‘I just led us to victory.’ It was pride in ‘we won,’ and we may have just put Colorado back in the rankings for the first time in a long time. It was about the ‘we.’
“As a player, the guy’s confidence was never at a low, but it wasn’t egotistical. He was liked and respected by everyone from the athletic director to the student managers.
“After the Indiana win (in the NCAA Tournament), he was really a guy who accepted that with a lot of humility.”
CU was eliminated by North Carolina in the second round of the NCAA Tournament
ON TO THE NBA
A nomad early in his pro career, then the Finals MVP with Detroit
NBA commissioner David Stern, June 25, 1997: “With the third pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, the Boston Celtics select . . . Chauncey Billups.
Finesilver, GW teacher/football coach: “Chauncey is a symbol. He’s a young man that has given — and will continue to give — hope to kids. And not just kids playing basketball. He’s a symbol for kids in Denver who set goals and have dreams, showing that anyone can do that. He had very humble beginnings. He grew up in Park Hill. He had a dream; he had a vision.”
Benjamin Hochman: 303-954-1294 or bhochman@denverpost.com
