Less than 24 hours after the Nuggets fired coach Brian Shaw, the calls to name Chauncey Billups the team’s new coach came in fast and furious. The former George Washington High School and University of Colorado star would save the NBA franchise, they said. He’s the answer!
Billups, now an NBA analyst for ESPN, joined “The Sports Show” at The Denver Post on Thursday to give his own answer, and to weigh in on everything from the Nuggets’ struggles to Kevin Garnett’s recent comments that they quit on Shaw to Peyton Manning’s new contract.
Fittingly, little time was wasted when the former Nuggets guard was asked whether he would want to be the team’s next coach.
“I’ll never say never about coaching,” Billups said. “My desire was always kind of to be (in the) front office. … It really doesn’t matter how good a coach may be. If the front office desires a different situation, a different player, maybe they want to go after the first pick in the draft and lose games, that’s a tough position for a coach to be in.
“I do see myself in (a general manager) role at some point, trying to run a franchise, trying to pick the right coach for what I have put together in a team.”
Given his hope of someday running a franchise, he explained how he would alter the Nuggets’ roster to spark a turnaround.
“For one, you have to get a leader on the floor. You have to,” Billups said. “It doesn’t necessarily have to be your best player. For instance, when I was here, Carmelo (Anthony) was our best player. … I was the leader of the team, though. The issue is, you’ve got to find that guy.
“With this altitude, you have a built-in advantage that you can use. … But personnel-wise, for a coach, you have to realize, who are you going to be? What’s going to be your identity?”
Referring to Garnett calling the Nuggets “quitters” under Shaw, Billups said, “If you look at the last two games, (they) are playing hard, look like they’re having fun, and it’s the same personnel, same guys there. So I can understand what he’s saying.”
As for Manning’s revised contract, “It lets you know how bad he wants to win,” Billups said.
Nicki Jhabvala: njhabvala@denverpost.com or
DENVER AT SAN ANTONIO
6:30 p.m. Friday, ALT; 950 AM, 104.3 FM
Spotlight on Tony Parker: This has been a frustrating season for the 32-year-old playmaker. A hamstring injury caused him to miss most of December, and he recently told Yahoo Sports: “I have not been the same since I came back, and it’s still bothering me. Everybody knows I am not going to use that as an excuse. I am just going to work it out until it gets better.” Still, he’s a dangerous point guard the Nuggets must corral.
NOTEBOOK
• Nuggets: They are 2-0 under interim coach Melvin Hunt, averaging 103 points while allowing only 90 per game. They have shot 45.5 percent from the field in the two-game winning streak, including 37 percent from the 3-point line. Danilo Gallinari has been the leader, averaging 21 points and six rebounds. … Jusuf Nurkic remains unable to play because of a sprained ankle.
• Spurs: This will be the second home game for the Spurs since Feb. 6. They recently had a nine-game road trip, going 4-5. Back home in San Antonio on Wednesday, they routed the George Karl-coached Sacramento Kings 112-85. … The Spurs have defeated the Nuggets five consecutive times, including three in a row in San Antonio.
— Christopher Dempsey, The Denver Post
