Chauncey Billups

“What bothered me more than if LeBron left or not was that I didn't think they had great assets if you have to do a rebuild. It was more that than Bron. Bron and I have always had an amazing relationship.”

“I don't want to be fired after two seasons and risk never getting another opportunity to coach.”

“Anytime you can grace the cover of any videogame, that means that you're on that level. That you're one of the best.”

“In any rebuilding process, I feel like there's probably going to be two or three coaches.”

“I have great respect for Dan Gilbert and the Cleveland Cavaliers, and I greatly appreciate the discussions we had regarding their organization.”

“I got 'Smooth' when I was growing up. I got 'Bigshot' playing in Detroit. People who know me from Denver call me 'Smooth.'”

“When I signed back with Detroit, I signed to retire a Piston.”

“I'm thinking about being the best I can be at ESPN in the studio.”

“Magic was always my favorite. I think Jordan was the best player ever, but Magic was my personal favorite.”

“That's kind of been my entire career, the stress and pressure.”

“I wanted to be one of the best players of my era at my position. And I did that, and I earned that. No one gave that to me. I earned every single thing.”

“My first couple of years in the league left me very unstable. I had some times where I played well, and I had some times were I really did not get the opportunity. After Rick Pitino gave up on me my first year, people were like, 'He can't play.' So I had to get over that hump.”

“I'm not the fastest player, but you can't really play up on me because my handles are good enough where I can get around you. But you can't play off of me, because I can shoot. And if smaller guys try to defend me, I'll back them down. I'm a good post player.”

“I am a big music guy. Hip-hop, R&B, old school, jazz.”

“I persevered, sustained, and continued to work hard and finally got my opportunity in Detroit, and I never turned back from that point. That's what made it so sweet to me to win a championship after what I went through. I had to scrap and fight to get through it, and to reach the pinnacle made it even sweeter.”

“We don't just hop out of bed, scratch our eyes, and become an NBA baller. It's a process. It's a tough grind that you have to go through that people don't understand.”

“I got into a lot of fights, but it wasn't because of my name. Being from the neighborhood with a name like Chauncey, people think I got picked on. But a lot of strange names come out of the neighborhood.”

“I can remember me and my cousin always fighting. He was a big Bulls and Michael Jordan guy.”

“People only see you on TV and riding around like stars, but they don't see behind the scenes how much time you have to put in working out. The lifting, the eating habits, trying to change all that so you can be that guy on TV, to be a baller, that's what people don't understand.”

“A lot of time, you play well and you do good work, but you are not on a good team, so it really doesn't mean anything.”