The stoicism that guided Chauncey Billups to Springfield, Mass., isn’t helping him ahead of his Sunday induction to the Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame.

Billups has his speech written, but he’s missing some ruthlessness as he tries to fit it into the 7 minutes he is allotted.

“The problem is, I’m way over time, so I got to trim it down, and I just don’t know where, man,” Billups told reporters Tuesday.

“I’m about twice the amount that it should be.”

In Billups’ defense, there’s plenty to unpack. The proud Park Hill native was selected as a McDonald’s All-American from the high school class of 1995 and went on to earn more All-American honors over his two seasons at the University of Colorado-Boulder.

The Celtics selected Billups as the third pick in the 1997 draft, but his professional career didn’t get off to the smooth start typical of a future Hall of Famer. He was traded to the Raptors at the trade deadline during his rookie season.

Toronto wasn’t home for long. The Raptors traded Billups to his hometown Nuggets less than a year later, but it wasn’t exactly a storybook homecoming. Denver traded him to Orlando in February 2000, though a shoulder injury prevented him from ever playing for the Magic. Billups signed with the Timberwolves as a free agent ahead of the 2000-01 season. After a couple of years in Minnesota, Billups signed with the Pistons, with whom his persistence paid off.

Larry Brown, his coach for most of his time in Detroit, and Ben Wallace, a hall-of-fame Pistons teammate, are two of his presenters. Former WNBA player Tina Thompson, who Billups called a “very dear friend,” will join Brown and Wallace in presenting Billups during Sunday’s ceremony.

“No coach got more out of me than (Brown). He means so much to me. Not only my playing career but even now, he’s still leading me, teaching me, giving me ideas and giving me encouragement all of the time. … He’s just somebody that means a lot to me,” Billups said of Brown before moving on to Wallace.

“Him or I wouldn’t be there without each other. The run that we had in Detroit is a big deal. I was there watching him go in a few years ago. Obviously, that’s my brother.”

In his first season as a Piston, Billups averaged 16.2 points, a career-high at that point, and finished sixth in Most Improved Player voting. The King of Park Hill earned a new nickname — Mr. Big Shot — for his unflappability in the clutch with the Pistons. He lived up to the moniker, winning Finals Most Valuable Player when Detroit beat the Lakers to win the 2004 title. Billups made All-Defensive second team in 2004-05, his third season with the Pistons. Three All-Star seasons followed before he was traded back to Denver in exchange for Allen Iverson two games into the 2008-09 season.

Billups’ second stint back home lasted nearly three seasons before he was included in the trade that sent Carmelo Anthony to the Knicks.

“You look at his upbringing here in Denver and obviously CU and his NBA career and what he was able to do, I’m just very happy for him and his family. Class act,” Nuggets coach Michael Malone said Saturday.

“You’re always rooting for guys that have worn that Nuggets jersey that make their way into Springfield. Shoutout to Chauncey. Job well done.”

Billups’ playing career concluded following a half season with the Knicks, a couple of injury-plagued seasons in Los Angeles with the Clippers and his farewell season with the Pistons in 2013-14 before knee injuries led to his retirement.

Now, he’s using his matter-of-fact approach in coaching. He got started as a Clippers assistant and is entering his fourth season as the Trail Blazers’ coach. The weekend’s events will force Billups to miss Portland’s preseason game against Sacramento. The enshrinement ceremony will air on NBA TV, starting at 4 p.m. in Denver. Billups didn’t know when he was scheduled to speak or if the event would break down his stoic demeanor.

“I’m not the most emotional dude in the world, but this is an emotional – obviously – event,” Billups said.

Naismith Basketball Hall of Fame class of 2024

Seimone Augustus

Dick Barnett

Chauncey Billups

Vince Carter

Doug Collins

Michael Cooper

Walter Davis

Harley Redin

Bo Ryan

Herb Simon

Charles Smith

Michele Timms

Jerry West

The Denver Broncos are looking to win four straight and put themselves in a great position for the second half of the season. Winning in the division is paramount if the Broncos want to make a push for the playoffs.

The Los Angeles Chargers aren’t going to just lay down, though. If the Broncos can achieve the bold predictions I’m laying out today, they’ll be in a good position to walk out with the win. 

This game is vital for the season, as a win puts the Broncos in a better spot in the AFC West. With a victory over the Chargers, the Broncos would be 2-0 in the division with four games left — prime position for a playoff spot.

That playoff spot could even be as division champs if they can beat the Kansas City Chiefs, who have been underperforming this season despite being undefeated. Let’s dive into my five bold predictions for Week 6.

The Chargers’ passing defense is weak, especially on attempts of 10-plus air yards. Bo Nix and the Broncos have struggled here, especially in the 10-19 air-yard range, but they find a way to get it done.

Nix is 16-51 on passes of 10-plus yards, and in this game, he adds 10 more completions to his total. The Broncos need to find more significant plays instead of focusing on shorter ones. It has worked to an extent so far, but eventually, that will run out. It is time they start putting things together offensively. 

Prediction: Nix completes at least 10 passes of 10-plus air yards. 

On the season, Sutton has 17 catches for 224 yards, with 68 yards as his season high. The Chargers have had issues working in coverage outside Kristian Fulton, who is injured but may play.

Sean Payton should move Sutton around and try to get him involved in the passing game early, which can help open up others for the passing game. 

Prediction: Sutton breaks 100 receiving yards. 

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The Chargers have severe issues with their interior offensive line, while Allen has had a monster start to his season. With four sacks on the season, Allen keeps up his momentum with another big day against the Chargers. 

Prediction: Allen picks up three sacks. 

With Justin Herbert likely still hobbled with a high-ankle sprain, the Chargers continue to struggle with their passing game. They can do well in the quick game, averaging 5.4 yards per pass play, but they only average 3.3 pass yards per play over 2.5 seconds.

The Broncos defense does well against the quick passing game while being the best against those longer plays. This almost wholly leads to them shutting down the Chargers’ passing game. 

Prediction: Chargers throw for less than 150 yards. 

Over the first five games, Mims has been missing in action and finally comes out in a big way to help the Broncos beat their divisional foe. 

Prediction: Mims scored a special teams touchdown. 

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The Denver Broncos are coming off one of the best wins in a long time.

The Broncos (3-2) are on a three-game winning streak and can improve to 2-0 in the AFC West. Meanwhile, the Los Angeles Chargers (2-2) are coming off their bye and head to Denver with a new head coach Jim Harbaugh and a new culture.

We go “behind enemy lines” to get a feel for the Chargers heading Sunday’s game with Michael Peterson from Bolts from the Blue to preview Sunday’s game.

MHR: How is the Jim Harbaugh tenure fairing through the four games? What has he done to put the franchise on the right track? And what more can he do?

Michael: I believe the biggest thing Jim Harbaugh has done since taking the helm of the Chargers is changing the culture throughout the team. It’s something you can legitimately feel when listening or watching anything involving the team. Everyone truly seems to be on the same page from top to bottom. The way the team won their first two games was exactly the vision we all expected to see. Unfortunately, injuries hit the team at important positions and they dropped the past two games by close decisions. But that plays into the thing I wish he could fix and/or do more for.

The Chargers have always been a very injured team, but that’s not just it. The guys who get injured are always at positions that drastically affect the performance of the entire team. Whether it be the team’s top receivers, their edge rushers, or their best offensive linemen, it’s always at a position that usually makes the difference between a bad team and a successful one. Harbaugh brought strength coach Ben Herbert with him from Michigan, and the dream was that he would finally make the injury bug go away. Unfortunately, that just hasn’t been the case thus far in 2024.

MHR: What is the Chargers defense doing to be so tough? And is this early success sustainable?

Michael: Honestly, similar to what I touched on above, it really is that they’re all playing together and on the same page. Those defenses under Brandon Staley seemed to be so disconnected. Broken plays and numerous missed tackles told the tale of those units. Now? This group is playing some really, really good team-oriented defense. The pass rush may not be getting home as much as the Broncos, but it’s causing enough havoc that opposing quarterbacks are throwing picks.

At the second level, second-year linebacker Daiyan Henley is breaking out before our eyes as a sideline-to-sideline defender who has been tight in coverage. In the secondary, free agent-signing Kristian Fulton has not only been one of the best cornerbacks in football this year but also one of the most improved players overall.

As far as how sustainable it is? Yeah, I’d say it’s been pretty sustainable. The Chargers have been doing this without Joey Bosa for most of three games and without Derwin James and Alohi Gilman for one game apiece. I would honestly say that this unit is playing so synergistically that their results have been better than the sum of their parts if that makes sense.

MHR: How has Justin Herbert looked in his first four games? What he is doing well? Where does he need to improve?

Michael: Justin Herbert has been fairly solid this year so far. Outside of one bad interception he threw against the Panthers, he’s been about as good as expected, given his circumstances. I’ve always believed that Herbert is at his best when he’s allowed to sling it all over the yard. It’s almost as if he gets better after building momentum with each new throw. However, Herbert’s basically been bottled up this year by his team’s own offensive philosophy. They want to run, run, and run the ball some more while mixing in the pass here and there to keep drives extended. But at the end of the day, this is a running team. The Chargers’ receivers are not talented enough to let the passing game do much carrying right now and the way Greg Roman calls games makes that even more apparent.

Herbert’s currently on pace to set a career-low in interceptions. He’s always been safe with the football and has one of the lowest turnover-worthy throw rates in the NFL since he was drafted. He’s also doing one hell of a job at avoiding sacks in the pocket. He’s so dang big that defenders have to work overtime to stop him from trying to attempt a pass before being brought down.

As far as where he needs to improve, that’s a tough one. Honestly, I guess I have to say just simply being better at protecting yourself. Ending last year with an injury and then starting this year with another one is a rough situation for a team that’s trying to compete in a year where many don’t have high expectations for them.

MHR: What is your best bet for Sunday’s game? And what do you think of the current spread?

Michael: I’m actually quite surprised the Chargers three-point favorites on the road. The Chargers offense hasn’t faired well at all into other elite defenses, and I don’t see them looking great this week, even with both starting tackles back. If I was a betting man, I’d probably slam Herbert for under 181 passing yards. He has yet to cross that mark in four games this season, and I doubt he does it against one of the best pass defenses in the NFL.

MHR: What are your expectations and predictions for Sunday’s game?

Michael: My prediction is that the Chargers will keep this game close and competitive similar to their past two against the Steelers and Chiefs. However, I just can’t see the offense consistently moving the ball enough to give the defense the breaks they deserve. In each loss, that unit becomes far too gassed, and it shows in the fourth quarter when they can’t finish as strong as you normally would want to see from your team. The Chargers also have been horrendous at scoring points in the fourth quarter, so that stark contrast in time spent on the field between the two is felt even more.

In the end, I believe the Broncos win a close one 16-13.