AN OPEN LETTER TO MR. CHAUNCEY BILLUPS
Dear Chauncey,
We write this brief note to you in the direst of straits. We didn’t know where else to turn so we 
decided to use this platform to present our message. Please heed these words, we write to you today. Thank you for your consideration.
Chauncey, you were largely introduced to most of the basketball world when you were the third pick in the 1997 NBA Draft, but we already knew all about you. For the decade prior, your name was already legendary around the city of Denver, Colorado. Like other basketball prodigies before you, we heard the stories about Bob Knight and his contemporaries showing up at your junior high practices. We heard the stories of you killing much older kids at the Hiawatha Davis Rec Center up in Park Hill. We heard and believed that you were the next “big thing,” and we were so proud.
You are our state’s greatest prep player, taking home three consecutive Mr. Colorado crowns and two state titles while at George Washington High. Even after you lived up to all of the “mountainous” expectations, you bucked the popular thought when you graced our little collegiate hoops program up in Boulder with your presence for a couple years; even leading them to their first NCAA tourney bid in 28 years.
Hell, even our historically abysmal professional team was able to somehow procure your services for a year and a half, but like many decisions before, (and after) the Nuggets decided to ship you off in a multi-player deal to Orlando because you were injured and hadn’t quite figured out your place in the League. And now, after all of this time, you blossomed into one of the truly great leaders in the NBA.
You give consistency in a league of erratic behavior. You are the steadiest of steady. You have literally scored 16 points and dished out 7 assists every night since you arrived in Motown some six years ago. You have led the Pistons to an NBA title (where you were named the Finals MVP), five Eastern Conference Championship series, all while finding a home for you and your family in Detroit.
But Mr. Big Shot, this is your home and we need a point guard here, badly. It appears our current diminutive guard might be available for a trade and the rumor we hear is that the Pistons are interested. Talk to Joe D. and get back to us.
Come back, we miss you.
With Love,
The State of Colorado
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