“Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James all fell victim to one player”: How Chauncey Billups managed to have a winning record against 3 NBA ‘GOATs’

Akash Murty | 25/09/2021
"Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, and LeBron James all fell victim to one player": How Chauncey Billups managed to have a winning record against 3 NBA 'GOATs'

Chauncey Billups is an NBA champ, Finals MVP, 5 time All Star and the current Head Coach of Portland Trail Blazers  

Who would wish to play close to a century of games against arguably the three best basketball players of all-time, but can you imagine winning more than half of those games? That’s what “Mr. Big Shot” did in his 17-year NBA career. 

Chauncey Billups is the only player who has a winning record against Jordan, Kobe, and LeBron 

Billups played a combined 94 games against Michael Jordan, Kobe Bryant, LeBron James and won 52 of them. That is an outrageous number when you consider Kobe and LeBron were on their primes when Billups was winning these games against them.  

 

He was drafted third overall by Boston Celtics in 1997, In his first career game, he recorded 15 points, 2 rebounds and 4 assists in 16 minutes of playing time as a reserve in a win against the Michael Jordan-led Bulls. How about that for a start against the then 5 times NBA Champ who went on to win his 6th that very season? 

Also read – NBA Twitter reacts to crazy outlier stat involving the Warriors’ unanimous 2015-16 MVP

A Finals MVP, Billups knew how to win big games

Although Billups would play for 7 teams in his career, his time with the Detroit Pistons is considered to be his best, he won them the 2004 NBA title over heavily favored Lakers led by Kobe and Shaq.

They won 4–1, for sure his best 4 wins against Kobe. In the finals he averaged 21 points, 5.2 assists, 3.2 rebounds, 1.2 steals, as well as shooting 50.1 percent field goals, 47.1 percent three-pointers, and 92.9 percent free throw which earned him the NBA Finals MVP Award.

He went to 7 straight conference finals with Pistons and his next team the Denver Nuggets. He knew how to win games, and surely, the big ones. Having a winning record against LeBron James who himself has led his teams to 10 NBA Finals, and won four, is a very rare feat. 

He never put anything over winning. “I learn something new about myself everyday,” Billups wrote on Instagram. “I never was a stats dude. As a PG all I cared about was getting the W. I was blessed to play with some real dawgs!!!!!”

Also read: “Michael Jordan did one hell of a job carrying the torch”: Dr J lauds the Bulls legend for his role in making NBA basketball global

Let’s see how Billups’s first stint as a new Head Coach of the Blazers goes and can “Dame Time” like his new coach “Mr. Big Shot” lead his team to the western conference finals? Or maybe the NBA finals?

Post Edited By: Samir Mehdi
Chauncey Billups Kobe Bryant LeBron James Michael Jordan

About the author

Akash Murty

An Electrical and Electronics Engineer by degree, Akash Murty is an NBA Editor at The SportsRush. Previously a Software Engineer, Murty couldn’t keep himself away from sports, and his knack for writing and putting his opinion forward brought him to the TSR. A big Soccer enthusiast, his interest in basketball developed late, as he got access to a hoop for the first time at 17. Following this, he started watching basketball at the 2012 Olympics, which transitioned to NBA, and he became a fan of the game as he watched LeBron James dominate the league. Him being an avid learner of the game and ritually following the league for around a decade, he now writes articles ranging from throwbacks, and live game reports, to gossip. LA Lakers are his favourite basketball team, while Chelsea has his heart in football. He also likes travelling, reading fiction, and sometimes cooking.

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