AUBURN HIILS, Mich. — Moments before his jersey went up to the rafters, Chauncey Billups spoke to the crowd about the night the Detroit Pistons wrapped up the 2004 NBA title by routing the Los Angeles Lakers in Game 5 of the Finals.
"We had one motivation," he said. "We wanted to win it here at home."
Billups was the most valuable player in the Finals that year, and he had his No. 1 jersey retired by the Pistons on Wednesday night at halftime of their game against Denver.
He was the second player from that 2004 team honoured by the Pistons this year. The Pistons retired Ben Wallace’s jersey last month at a similar ceremony — in front of a packed house on a night Detroit beat Golden State.
There were some empty seats in the upper level Wednesday, but Billups wanted to be honoured while the Pistons were playing the Nuggets. Billups is a Denver native and played for the Nuggets for two stints during his career.
"This was by design, only because there’s a lot of people that contributed to my success as a player and as a man, in Denver, my hometown," Billups said before the game. "There were several dates that I could have chosen. This one obviously stuck out."
Billups does have a mild regret about his run of success with the Pistons. He figures they could have won more titles.
"I felt like, two and maybe three championships — we were that good," he said.
Ben Wallace was on hand Wednesday, and so were Richard Hamilton, Rasheed Wallace and Tayshaun Prince from the 2004 champions. Pistons great Isiah Thomas was also at the Palace for the ceremony.
"This is what tradition looks like," Thomas told the crowd. "This is what it feels like."
